


Unsure.

by Mystrothedefender



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-28 22:09:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 30,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/997504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrothedefender/pseuds/Mystrothedefender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward Nigma has found himself in a long term, emotionally abusive relationship with Jonathan Crane. When Edward begins to develop a relationship with Harvey Dent, he finds a perfect escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Edward lay on his bed, his feet kicked in the air, reading a book by the light of the dimmed lamp.  
He sighed to himself, and let his eyes flick over to the door of the bedroom, Jon would be home any minute now.  
It was ok, he'd done all the cleaning, the food was in the oven, he'd even fitted that new graphics card to the computer.  
But still his heart jumped in slight fear as he heard the door click open.  
"Ed, I'm home!" Jon's voice called to him, it wasn't polite or friendly, it was a command.  
"Coming, Jon" Edward called gently, marking his book and placing it on his pillow. He hopped from the bed and began his walk from the room.  
"C'mon kid, my bag won't hang it's self up!" Jon yelled, his tone both condescending and angry.  
Edward didn't see why he couldn't do it himself, the peg was right by the front door! One hand movement it would take, one. But for Edward it meant abandoning his book, almost falling down the stairs, and rushing across the three rooms that separated the stairs and the front door.  
Edward picked up the hand-sewn brown bag and hung it on it's peg, he smiled at Jon as the man leaned in for a kiss.  
"Did you fix the computer today?" Jon asked as he wrapped an arm around Edward's waist.  
Edward nodded, taking another soft kiss from Jon's warm, sweet lips, "Yeah, it just needed a new graphics card so I switched it to the-"  
Jon raised his hand to stop Edward mid sentence, he placed the hand to Edward's face, sliding his long finger along the small man's jaw, "I didn't ask what you did, did I? I just asked if you fixed it. Yes or no will suffice."  
Edward gave a tiny huff and smiled again, "Yes, Jon, I fixed the computer."  
"Good!" Jon said triumphantly, breaking himself from Edward and slumping on the nearby sofa, flicking on the tv, "Food?"  
"10 minutes," Edward said, his voice wavering a little.  
Jon tutted, "Close… Try harder next time."  
Edward gave another huff, another smile.  
"Sit with me," Jon commanded, patting the seat next to him.  
Edward complied, leaning away from Jon slightly, but being sure to keep some kind of physical contact with him.  
"You're so sweet to me, Eddie…" Jon cooed, running a hand over Eddie's leg.  
Eddie hummed happily, and pulled his phone from the pocket of his trousers to find that he had received a text.  
He always kept his phone on silent, so Jon wouldn't hear it and ask who he was talking too.  
He always knew when Eddie was lying.  
 _Dent: Is he bugging you again?_  
Eddie held back a sigh, and texted back, _Don't be so hard on him, he's sweet really._  
Jon let out a short laugh at the tv, the noise made Edward jump a little.  
 _Dent: No, he's controlling. He's tricked you into thinking he's sweet._  
 _He's not a hobbit Harvey…_  
Edward smiled at his boyfriend, as if trying to share the joke, but not wanting him to know it.  
 _Dent: He's a tricksey hobbit Edward. He's short enough to be one too_  
 _He's taller than me!_  
The oven timer beeped loudly, making Edward leap from his skin.  
Jon laughed heartily, and leaned over to ruffle Edward's hair, "Silly boy…" he said almost mockingly, "Go on then," he gestured towards the kitchen.  
Edward hopped to his feet and took the food from the oven: Enchiladas… Why the hell not?  
Plenty of cheese, Edward knew how Jon liked his cheese.  
He cut the portions in half and ladled them onto their plates.  
He placed Jon's on the man's knee, and Jon took the opportunity to pull Edward close to him, bending him to reach his lips, and clasping a hand tightly to his backside.  
"I do _love_ you Eddie…" Jon growled gently with a smile as he removed his hand and let Edward stand, "You might want to umm…" he gave Edward's backside a soft pat, "lay off eating so much, sweet thing, you've gained a bit of flab…"  
Edward frowned and looked around at his own arse, true, he was gaining a little, but it couldn't be more than a few pounds. He sighed gently, then smiled, "More of me to love?" he offered hopefully.  
Jon smirked and shook his head, "Now now, I want you looking perfect. Flab is not perfect."  
Edward nodded gently, and sat with his own food on the sofa, putting his legs over Jon's and his back against the wall.  
 _Dent: You must be a hobbit too then._  
 _Oi, I am no hobbit!_  
Jon looked at the moderately large amount of food on Eddie's plate, and frowned, "Give me some of that."  
But he had his own, Edward had cut it equally.  
"You're getting fat, Edward…" Jon said with a slight growl.  
Edward nodded, and slid a small amount of the food on his plate onto Jon's. He knew Jon was doing It for his own good. He really did hate that he was gaining weight…  
 _Dent: Yes, you're too sweet to be a hobbit._  
 _Psh, I'm not that sweet._  
"Do you like the food?" Edward asked happily.  
Jon nodded, "Yeah, bit hot, but yeah." He waved his hand in excitement, "Hey, it's that advert you like!"  
Edward laughed gently and nodded, "I think it's funny," he reminded himself.  
Jon leant over and rand his hand up and down Edward's arm, leaning towards him slightly.  
 _Dent: Sweet enough for me._  
 _Oh shush, you wouldn't know what to do with me._  
Jon ate his food messily, humming gently in appreciation, then he sat and waited for Edward to finish.  
Edward was all too aware of the look Jon was giving him, he knew it well. It was a nice look…  
Edward hurried to finish his food, then felt his phone go off again.  
 _Dent: I know better than Jon does._  
Edward chuckled lightly.  
"What's so funny?" Jon asked, smiling that familiar smile which meant he was horny.  
Edward shook his head slightly, "It doesn't matter." He shifted slightly, and moved his foot so it rubbed slightly against Jon's crotch, making the man squirm a little and moan gently.  
"Seems you know what I want…" Jon breathed, thrusting himself up against Edward's foot.  
Edward nodded, smiling gently, his eyes flicked to the pocket of his jeans, where his phone sat, wishing he could text Harvey back, but continuing to rub himself against Jon's hardening length in spite.  
Jon moaned gently, leaning forward to grab Edward's shirt, and pull him forward, forcing a deep kiss on his lips. "I wonder what this will feel like…" Jon said, pulling Edward's head down slightly, and unzipping his own fly.  
"M-might hurt," Edward said gently as Jon revealed his long member; the body's reaction to the mild chilli in the Enchilada's…  
Jon chuckled, "I always liked a little bit of pain… I've not tried this before."  
Jon tugged lightly at himself, then looked between Edward and his own dick, gesturing for the smaller man to continue.  
Edward shifted, nestling himself on he floor between Jon's legs, and leaning forward to give the man's tip a gentle kiss.  
Jon chuckled, the smile wide on his face.  
Edward looked up at him keeping eye contact as best he could, he drew a long lick over the head, and ran his tongue down the shaft.  
He slid the head into his mouth, giving the object a gentle suck, listening to Jon hiss as the chilli worked into his skin. Edward withdrew immediately, leading Jon to frown and snap "Did I tell you to stop?"  
Edward cleared his throat lightly and placed his mouth back on the length, beginning to suck quickly, moving his mouth and moaning, still keeping eye contact.  
He moved his mouth down, lapping at the base and letting the head tickle the back of his throat.  
"Ah, shit…" Jon moaned, writhing and thrusting into the back of Edward's throat, making his muscles jump slightly.  
Edward hummed, letting his eyes squint a little as Jon thrust up at him, hitting him at the wrong angle, making him want to gag.  
He shifted and began to suck quicker, moving his mouth swiftly, letting the object fill him, and leave him, again and again, prodding hard into him, lapping at it with his tongue he let out hard growling noises.  
Edward continued to move his head, letting precum run down his throat and letting his drool run down the hard pulsing member.  
He felt a buzz in his pocket, Harvey had texted him again, probably asking why he hadn't responded. Edward screwed his eyes shut, focusing on the task in hand.  
Jon reached his hand forward and buried in in Edward's ginger hair, forcing him to move quicker, go deeper.  
"Fuck… Eddie… Fuck, you like my cock don't you…" Jon whispered with a moan.  
The phone in his pocket buzzed again, and he screwed his eyes tighter, letting Jon man-handle his head.  
He was talking, that meant he was close.  
"Fuck, Eddie, you love having your face fucked."  
Not that Jon would know… He'd never taken the time to ask.  
Edward felt Jon starting to twitch, he ran his tongue along the shaft, drawing the orgasm from him, making the man shudder ad moan, screaming gently, he forced his head forward, his eyes wide.  
He then slumped in the chair, letting his hand loose from Eddie's hair, he let out a small 'whoo' noise, and smiled at the small man, "Damn you're good at that."  
Eddie raised himself to his feet, leaving Jon to watch tv, and he poured himself some juice.  
He quickly pulled out his phone.  
 _Dent: Do you want to come and meet me tomorrow? For coffee or something?_  
Edward smiled, feeling his heart flutter in his chest.  
 _I'd prefer a cold drink, but yeah, sure. What time?_


	2. Chapter 2

Edward checked the time again, it was 12:30, he had to stop worrying, he had plenty of time.  
Hours and hours.  
He sighed to himself, rounding the corner on the high-street, feeling his heart in his throat and butterflies in his stomach.  
Keep calm.  
He was meeting a friend for coffee. That was all.  
Stop freaking out, it wasn't a date, he wasn't cheating.  
He hadn't contacted Harvey saying 'Hey, wanna meet up and fuck??!'  
He shouldn't feel bad about it.  
He would never cheat on Jon.  
He stopped at the Café jour, and peered in the window.  
He briefly wondered if there was a 'Café nuit', but then he saw Harvey.  
When he saw Harvey, everything seemed to stop, even his pulse itself.  
He swallowed hard, and swung open the door. Hearing the bell jingle, Harvey lifted his head, and smiled.  
"I was starting to think you wouldn't come…" the tall man said gently.  
Edward nodded again, looking over Harvey's frame; the bi-coloured, half mussed hair, the half-burned face, the fantastically blue eyes, the tailored suit.  
He must look like a tramp in comparison, he wasn't even wearing a jacket.  
"I-I almost didn't…" Edward said quietly, suddenly unsure of how to act, how to stand, what to do with his hands.  
"What do you mean?" Harvey asked, pushing his foot against the empty chair to push it out, and offer to Edward.  
Edward took a tentative seat, and shrugged, "Jon was… he felt a bit sick, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to work, and… I wouldn't have been able to leave him."  
Harvey frowned, Jon was so controlling over Edward.  
"No, No I mean…" Edward started, feeling Harvey's eyes on him, knowing what that look meant, "I meant, I would'a felt bad leaving him if he was ill."  
Harvey huffed gently, "Of course…"  
Edward smiled.  
"Don't do that," Harvey said briskly.  
"Do what?"  
"Smile. When you have something you want to say, but you feel you shouldn't, you smile."  
"It's just a smile," Edward said, somewhat disheartened.  
Harvey shook his head, "You used to smile… differently."  
Edward shook his head, smiling still, he sighed gently, knowing Harvey was right, "…Are you going to get me a drink or what?"  
Harvey smirked, knowing he had made his point, "Of course. What would you like?"  
Edward hummed gently, "Ribena? With ice?"  
Harvey chuckled, lifting himself from his chair, he let his hand slide across Edward's shoulder as he passed, "You're such a child."  
Edward pouted slightly, "I am not. I just… like Ribena."  
Harvey laughed, and went to order Edward his drink.  
Edward sat and watched Harvey, he kept looking back towards Edward, but not fully looking at him.  
His touch had… sparked something in him, it had brought his heart into his throat, and made all physical feeling leave him.  
A feeling he'd not felt in so long.  
He felt his leg twitch involuntarily, watching still as Harvey took the drink and walked back to the table. "So um…" Edward picked at his nails through nervousness, "is there any particular reason you asked me here?"  
Harvey shrugged, sliding the glass across the table, resting it in front of the ginger haired man. Edward outstretched his hand to take the drink, and their fingers touched. Edward glanced down that the joined fingers, and swallowed.  
Harvey smiled, "I came here for the same reason you did."  
Edward's eyes dropped, and his hand receded from the glass "I don't know why I came."  
Harvey sat back in front of Edward, smiling, "I know. You came because you're unhappy…"  
"No I'm not, I'm perfectly happy," Eddie said in a weak protest.  
The tall man shook his head, "You don't know it yet. But tonight, after you've had… empty, loveless sex with your  _boyfriend_ , you'll rush straight to your phone to see if I've texted you."  
Edward clenched his fist, holding his breath in him, Trying to seem offended, acting as if that wasn't true, as if that wasn't what he'd done for the past 5 nights in a row.  
"We're a lot smarter than people think, Edward, we used to be the district attorney. I know how people think. I know when they're lying, when they're lying to themselves. And, Edward, I have never seen someone lie more than you."  
"I…" Edward stuttered, his eyes darting everywhere but Harvey's face, "I… I'm not…"  
"You're not happy…" Harvey finally took his hand from the glass, letting it rest naturally on the table, "I know  _I_  could make you happy."  
Edward's eyes finally lifted to Harvey's, "You don't know that Harvey."  
"I know I could make you happier than he does."  
"You don't know that Harvey," Edward repeated with a growl.  
Harvey slammed his fist on the table, "You have bruises on your neck Edward. I  _know_  he caused them"  
Edward recoiled in his seat, suddenly stricken by terror.  
"Edward…" Harvey said softly, re-taking his seat, putting a hand to his forehead, "I hate seeing you like this… Seeing someone I care for... I know he scares you, I know you're afraid of him. You shouldn't be afraid of someone you're supposed to love."  
The dark haired man downed what little of his drink he had left, and got to his feet. He held his hand to Edward's arm, caressing it gently, "Just… I'm not going to make you leave him, I know what that'll do to you… but if you do leave him. There are still people who love you, who won't… do what he does. I'm here for you, I have a room for you. I'll even paint it how you like."  
Edward smiled sadly, trying to avoid Harvey's eyes, "Thank you Harvey… I think I needed to hear that."  
"I'll see you later Edward… let me know what you decide."  
.  
Hours later Jon fell onto the bed, quickly he fell asleep.  
Edward walked into the bathroom, limping a little, and he checked his phone.  
No texts from Harvey. He felt a lump in his throat.  
He suddenly felt like crying.  
He pulled up a new message, to Harvey, simply saying  _Ok._


	3. MystroTheDefender

Harvey's next text came at almost 2 in the morning. The gentle buzz and soft light waking Edward from his uneasy sleep.  
 _Dent: What do you mean 'Ok'?_  
 _I mean Ok, I admit it, you were right._  
Edward looked over at his slumbering boyfriend, feeling a deep pit emerge in his stomach.  
Harvey was right, he was unhappy.  
Things had been so perfect.  
But… it just didn't feel right.  
 _Dent: What do you want to do?_  
This sentence made him frown with a sudden anger, he didn't know anymore. He didn't know what he wanted. He just knew he didn't want to feel that _pit_ when he looked at the man he was supposed to love.  
He remembered the spark he had felt when Harvey had touched him. He had never felt that with Jon.  
The most he remembered feeling was a slight elation when the man had smiled at him.  
Jon had saved his life, all those years ago.  
It hadn't felt right to give him nothing in return. But all he had had to give was himself.  
So…  
Was it all pretend?  
Had he felt nothing all this time?  
Had Jon tricked him into thinking…  
Had he tricked himself into thinking he was in love?  
Did he even know what love _was_?  
He raised a hand to his head, letting a gentle sigh come from him, he texted back: _I want to feel loved._  
Jon stirred in his sleep, Edward's shifting on the bed must had woken him. Edward sat, holding his phone, trying to keep still, and not wake him completely.  
The phone buzzed again, and Jon opened his eyes, "W-what…" he squinted at Edward through the darkness, "Who the fuck is texting you in the middle of the night?"  
'Harvey," Edward wanted to say, 'I'm talking to him about leaving you. I'm sorry.'  
"The…uhh… The internet company… the connection's going to be out until the morning."  
Edward swallowed hard: Jon knew when he was lying, he could always tell, he could smell it like a bloodhound, Edward was sure.  
"W-What did you do to piss them off…?" Jon slurred, too tired to think.  
Edward shook his head frantically, "Nothing, Jon, I swear. There's a problem w-with the line, that's all."  
Jon stretched out a hand to clasp it to Edward's knee, "Good boy…" he mumbled, quickly falling asleep again.  
 _Dent: You don't think he loves you?_  
 _If he does I don't feel it._  
Edward swallowed as he sent the text, looking between Jon and his phone, chewing his lip gently.  
 _Dent: Do you love him?_  
Edward sat for a moment, thinking of his reply.  
He looked at Jon and gave a small smile: he looked so peaceful, bathed in moonlight, his chest rising and falling softly, hissing slightly with every exhale, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.  
He tried to imagine Harvey in Jon's place… and… he couldn't. It felt like a betrayal.  
Even if he didn't love Jon, he didn't want to hurt him.  
 _I don't know. I just don't want to feel This anymore._  
He wiped his hand across his eyes, feeling tears begin to appear.  
He'd been here, in this 'relationship' for… three years, almost, maybe a month or two off.  
He couldn't just… throw it all away. Have all that time and energy gone with one word.  
…But… it shouldn't feel like that, it shouldn't feel like just time and energy that would have been wasted.  
 _Dent: I can help you, but I need to know that you won't regret it._  
Edward let out a juddered sigh, tears still coming from him. He… Would he regret it?  
He tried to imagine a life without Jon. With Harvey.  
He felt so sick.  
This felt… weird.  
He didn't know.  
 _I don't know if I will._  
He just didn't know.  
 _Dent: I can't help you until you're sure Eddie. I don't want to take you away from him if it will make you hate me._  
 _I could never Hate you. I just don't know if leaving is the right thing to do._  
 _Dent: Decide._  
He let a small sob escape his lips, and he jolted slightly as Jon's eyes jumped open at the noise.  
Edward thrust his phone under his pillow, and watched Jon look over him with half lidded eyes.  
"Eddie…" Jon cooed, "What's wrong?"  
Edward swallowed, rubbing his hands over his eyes again, "N-Nightmare, it's ok, it's nothing."  
Jon smiled at him, and outstretched a hand, wrapping it round Eddie's shoulders, pulling him close. "Oh Eddie.. Don't cry. It's not real. It's ok, I'm here, I'll protect you from the nasty, scary, things… It'll be ok…"  
Jon squeezed Edward tightly to his chest, enveloping him with his slim and bony frame, covering him with his warm body.  
"I'm sorry Jon…" Edward said, trying not to sob, trying to hold the tears back.  
He didn't like the thought of this relationship ending. It was so... natural, now. It was all he knew.  
He didn't know if he wanted to give it up.  
Jon chuckled gently and nuzzled his nose into Eddie's hair, "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault."


	4. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is proving to be a very popular story. :3  
> I'm happy with it.

Jon woke to see that Edward was not in bed with him.  
He inhaled gruffly and ran his hand through his hair, letting a throaty cough come from him. He blinked slowly and got to his feet, stopping for a second to reposition his pyjama bottoms.  
Edward was most likely downstairs, making food.  
He couldn't smell any food though. How odd. Maybe Edward had just made him cereal or something.  
He stumbled down the stairs, and saw no food on the table. He frowned; Edward always made him food.  
What the hell?  
"Edward?" Jon yelled hoarsely, "Edward, where the _hell_ are you?!"  
He looked through the house. No Edward.  
"What the fuck? …Little shit…" Where would he have gone this early in the morning?  
They had milk, eggs, sugar, tea, juice, bread.  
Nothing that Edward would go out to get at this time.   
He looked out the window, and a small smirk spread across his face.  
Edward was sitting on the curb outside. Still in his pyjamas, his hair still mussed, his back hunched. Staring out at the road.  
Jon shook his head gently, and opened the door, approching the small man, he was playing with a stick, dragging over the floor and pushing small pieces of gravel across the floor.  
"Hey, kid, whatch'a doing out here? Still hung up on that nightmare?"  
Edward shook his head, barely looking up from his stick, "Nah, I'm... I'm just thinking about something."  
Jon laughed loudly, outstretching a hand and ruffling Edward's hair, making the man jump slightly, "Oh, Eddie... you shouldn't think, you'll hurt yourself."  
Jon took Eddie by the arm, helping, almost forcing him up, "You scared me for a minute. I was starting to think I might have to make my own breakfast." He tugged at Edward's arm, and began leading him back into the house, "Come on, we can't have people seeing you out here like this."  
"Ok Jon," Edward said listlessly.  
Had Jon even noticed that he was upset? He definately had. Did he simply not care?  
jon closed the door behind Edward, and sighed, a sigh directed at the smaller man, but Edward wasn't sure what it meant. "Do you plan on making me breakfast or what?" Jon eventually said with a soft smile.  
Edward nodded and walked into the kitchen, he pulled out his phone, once he was sure Jon was no longer watching.  
 _Dent: I hope I didn't upset you last night. I just want to make sure you're ok._  
Edward smiled sadly to himself.  
Why couldn't Jon be more like Harvey?  
Harvey ... Harvey was different.  
Harvey admitted when he had made mistakes, Harvey didn't treat Edward like his lesser, Harvey so obviously cared about Edward's feelings.  
Harvey wouldn't demean Edward's intelligence like Jon did.  
 _I'm fine, I'm just trying to decide._  
He looked around the kitchen, trying to find something to make for Jon.  
"Toast?" he called through to the livingroom, where Jon lounged on the sofa, cradling the TV remote in his hand.  
"Nope," Jon called back.  
Eddie chewed his lip, looking through the cupboards, "Wheatabix?"  
"Nope."  
"Cornflakes?"  
"Nope."  
"Shredded-wheat?" Eddie asked, his voice growing slightly higher with the word; fearing Jon's response.  
"Edward," Jon almost snapped, Edward heard him get to his feet, and felt himself tense as he heard the man approach, and felt a hand grasp onto his arm. "What the hell is going on with you? You know I hate shredded-wheat," he shook Edward's arm slightly, "Get your head on straight Edward."  
He let go of Edward's arm, leaving the smaller man to cower in on himself. "S-sorry, Jon."  
"Make me scrambled eggs," Jon said slowly, a small smile on his lips, "And don't burn them," he waggled his finger gently, as he walked back to the livingroom.  
Edward found himself fighting back tears, his inside scrunching up inside him.  
He silently walked to the fridge, and took three eggs from it. He blinked rapidly, trying to swallow the lump in his throat, not being able to, finding his throat quivering.  
He quickly cracked the eggs, and put them in a bowl with some milk. He placed them in the microwave, feeling his throat tightening more with every second.  
"C-can you k-keep an eye on them for m-me," he half-whispered to Jon, biting hard on his lip to stop himself sobbing.  
"Yeah sure," Jon said with a wave of his hand, "Just don't take too long."  
Edward ran up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible, and he shut himself in the bathroom. He sat on the toilet seat and put his head in his hands.  
Tears began to pour from him and he began to shake.  
He felt so scared.  
He felt like a black hole had sparked inside him with Jon's words. Making him want to collapse in on himself.  
He stomped his feet gently, digging his finger nails into his scalp, tears falling into his lap, silent sobs escaping his lips.  
The third time this week.  
This was the third time he had found himself locked in here, crying because of something Jon had done.  
Why did he put up with this?  
Maybe Harvey was right, maybe he should just leave.  
There was no way he could just leave. Jon depended so much on him, and… Jon wouldn't just _let_ him go.  
He got annoyed enough when Edward left the house for extensive periods of time. The mere idea of Eddie leaving would send the man mad, he was sure.  
"Eddie! Hurry up you… silly kid…" Jon's voice called up. Edward wiped his sleeve quickly across his eyes.  
Edward got to his feet and looked at himself in the mirror; his eyes were puffy and red, the sight made Edward let out another scoffed sob; Jon hated seeing Eddie cry, it made him shout, which made Eddie cry more, which made Jon shout more, and so on and so on.  
He cleaned his face and walked downstairs.  
He looked over at Jon, who lay, uncaring, on the sofa, he didn't even bother to look up.  
He swallowed again.  
How could he do this?  
How could he betray a man he had been with for this long?  
How could he possibly escape this life, the life he and Jon had crafted together.  
How could he justify this?  
 _How?_


	5. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jon's a pushy little bugger isn't he?

_Dent: Did you want to meet up again? If you have time._  
Eddie felt his face flush a little, and tried to stop the large smile that wanted to tear his face in two.  
He managed to repress most of it, showing only a small smirk. Jon looked over a him from the other side of the sofa.  
Jon retuned the smile, not knowing it wasn't directed at him, "You seem happy," he said softly.  
The smiled dropped from his face, and he nodded.  
"Good," Jon said with a grunt.  
"Why?"  
Jon's smirk deepened, "It means I don't have to try to cheer you up."  
He waited a second, waiting for Eddie's face to turn from 'generally happy' to 'slightly confused'. When Edward's expression changed, Jon let out a light chuckle.  
Edward, still confused, returned it.  
 _As long as you don't end up shouting at me again…_  
There was a few minutes of almost silence before Edward felt a deep looming buzz come from his pocket.  
Jon frowned, "Someone's calling you?"  
Edward looked down at the phone, seeing Harvey's name flash on the screen, "So it would seem."  
Jon shifted his feet so Edward could stand, and he watched as the younger man got to his feet, and answered.  
Edward knew he should answer here, so Jon didn't get suspicious, and think he was hiding something. He turned the volume on his phone down though, so Jon would only hear his side of the conversation.  
"Hello?" He said quizzically, as if he didn't know who was calling.  
Harvey's voice came immediately down the phone, " _I didn't shout at you, Edward, I'm just trying to help you see how bad Jon is for you. I know he scares you, you won't fucking say it but I can tell, I can hear it in your voice._ "  
"Yes," Edward said, trying to keep his voice flat and emotionless, even though his pulse was now racing and there was a lump in his throat.  
" _He's there now isn't he? That's why you're not talking? Your scared of what he'll think if he finds out you're talking to another guy, what he'll **do**._ "  
Edward swallowed, still trying to hide the emotion in him, he glanced at Jon, and let out a tiny sigh "…I don't know if that's right…" he said quietly, knowing that speaking too much would cause him to break into tears.  
" _Let me meet up with you, please. Tomorrow._ "  
Edward rolled his eyes at Jon, and whined out the word "Fine, when?"  
" _Half 12?_ " Harvey said hopefully.  
Edward chewed his lip, Jon didn't leave for work until 3 in the afternoon, he didn't want to leave him while he was there, he… he would keep track of how long he was gone, ask questions about how why he took so long… guilt Edward into telling him exactly what had happened, and then, who knows what.  
"Half 4 would be better," Edward eventually said.  
" _…Then… how about we make it dinner?_ " Harvey said, a smile obvious in his tone.  
Edward pouted slightly and nodded, playing absent-mindedly with his belt buckle, "Yeah, ok, sounds good. I'll see you then."  
" _Ok. I'll see you then, tell Jon I said hi…_ "  
There was a click as Harvey hung up the phone, and Edward found himself biting his lip to stop himself from smiling too widely.  
He was going out to dinner with Harvey, his heart was jumping and twitching in his throat, he swallowed to try to stop it, and looked to Jon, who was staring up at him intently.  
"What was that about?" Jon asked, a small smile on his face.  
"It was Twoface…" he said gingerly, "He says hi."  
"Twoface?" Jon mumbled with a slight frown, "Sounded important?"  
Edward bit his lip harder, "He has a box of solder, left over from 'something' he did, he was wondering if I'd need it, I'm going to pick it up while you're at work tomorrow."  
Jon nodded, his smile widening, "Ok. Well when you're ready to tell me who that really was, you just go ahead and say…"  
"That was the truth," Edward said, frowning, not taking his seat, standing with his arms crossed, phone still clutched in his hand.  
"Ah, ok…" Jon smirked.  
Edward frowned, Jon didn't believe him, he clicked a button on his phone, showing the last call.  
He held the phone to show Jon, "See?"  
'Received: Harvey.  
Call time: 01:49'  
Jon nodded, " _Harvey_ is he now…?"  
Edward shrugged, "Yeah… What's wrong with that?"  
Jon scoffed, rolling his eyes; he knew how Edward could get when he was around _handsome_ men.  
"Nothing…" he said with a shake of his head.  
Edward huffed gently, and sat back on the sofa, Jon looked over at him, staring for a second until Edward looked at him, "Change it back to Twoface will you?"  
Edward frowned for a second, then nodded swiftly, and changed the name on his phone. "Done."  
"Show me," Jon demanded softly, holding his hand out to take the phone.  
Edward showed him it: 'Twoface'.  
Jon smiled widely, and leaned in to give Edward a deep kiss, "God, kid, I love you," he moaned, grabbing the back of Edward's head and forcing him deeper into the kiss.


	6. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...It somehow became 3100 words long... I could have made it longer, but I thought that seemed like a good place to end it.

He was going to see Harvey, going to sit with him, eat food, tell stories, _laugh_.  
Just the thought was making him dizzy, he could hardly stop smiling as he held the door for Jon as the man left for work.  
"Bye, Love," Jon said, giving Eddie a sweet kiss as he left.  
"Bye," Edward said, kissing him in return.  
He couldn't stop his heart thumping in his throat, panging in the new purple mark that sat there. He swallowed hard, the smile on his face so large he swore it could consume him.  
He let out a tiny squeak as he ascended the stairs, he hopped into the shower and began washing himself.  
His eyes kept focusing on the mirror opposite the shower.  
He tightened his chest, watching the muscles move.  
He shook his head and sighed; he looked so awful…  
He turned his back to the mirror and continued washing himself, sticking his face into the stream of water and taking in a mouthful, he swirled it around his mouth and spat the long flume into the plughole.  
He hummed gently. He was going to _dinner_ with _Harvey_.  
Harvey was like… the hottest guy ever.  
Why did _he_ care?  
His eyes flicked back to the mirror. He looked so… 'twiggy'. Awful.  
Damn, he didn't deserve this.  
No, come on, he wasn't 'going out' with Harvey, they were friends, it was friends, having dinner.  
It didn't matter how he looked.  
He got out of the shower and fixed his hair, glaring for a second at that little bit that stuck up at the back no matter what.  
"…Stupid hair," he said as he abandoned his hair, and painted a line of green on his eyes.  
What time was it?  
His eye's reached for the clock on the far side of the room.  
3:30.  
He'd have to set off soon….  
They were going to meet at the same café as last time, and Harvey had said he was going to drive him to some restaurant that he 'knew the owner of'.  
Harvey said the vegetable rigatoni they did there was fantastic.  
He couldn't wait to try it.  
He quickly dressed himself, making sure his tie and collar were straight, and that his belt wasn't twisted, and that his fly was done up.  
He gave a short sigh, and picked his keys from his bedside table. He pulled his shoes on and shoved his wallet and phone in his pocket, and he left the house.  
.  
He sat in Café Jour, at the same table as before, looking out the large pane of glass, waiting for Harvey.  
He looked down at his watch: 4:07.  
Almost 10 minutes late.  
Maybe he should call?  
Or text…?  
No, he couldn't. That would seem too needy, too desperate.  
But… then again, this, he reminded himself, was not a date, it was friends.  
 _C'mon Harv! You're late_  
He was about to press send, but he saw Harvey's gorgeous frame appear in the window, and heard the jingle of the bell as the large man opened the door.  
"Edward," Harvey cooed as Edward stowed his phone, "I wasn't sure if you'd come." He said this with the same tone as he had the previous time they'd met, there was an odd ring of worry to it.  
"I said I would," Edward replied, getting to his feet, Harvey smiling as he did.  
Harvey shrugged, "Yeah, but…"  
"Jon?"  
"Yeah…"  
Edward frowned as Harvey opened the door for him, "Jon's really not that bad, Harv… He can't _stop_ me from going out."  
Harvey shook his head, "Remember that time he moaned at you that he was stressed until you had sex with him? He made you late for a heist, that meant you lost almost $3000."  
"I _wanted_ to have sex," Edward said defensively.  
Harvey shook his head, " _sure_ you did, he's _never_ got you to have sex when you didn't want to, you've _never_ just laid back and taken it… I bet there have been times when you haven't even 'gone off'"  
Edward blushed, and huffed slightly, "Harvey, I thought you said you weren't going to yell at me."  
Harvey stopped, opening the door to his car for Edward, "I'm not yelling, I'm just pointing it out…"  
Edward huffed gently, "…So where are we going?"  
"It's a surprise…" Harvey growled gently, smiling widely, he got in the drivers seat and pulled the car out, stopping only 3 doors down.  
Edward frowned slightly in confusion, having not had time to even put his seatbelt on, "W-We could have walked that…"  
Harvey nodded, beginning to get out of the car, "Yeah, but the people here always take you a little more seriously if you have a car."  
Edward giggled gently, waiting for Harvey to open his door, and holding out a hand for Harvey to take when he did, "All about image?"  
The corner of Harvey's mouth lifted, and he shook his head, "Not really, just wanted to make you feel special." He took Edward's hand and gently lifted the man from his seat, smiling sweetly, he half-bowed as the smaller man stood, and slowly loosened his grip.  
Edward giggled again, his face flushing; it sounded so stupid, getting in a car and driving a whole 10 steps just so Harvey could help him out of the car and make him feel 'special'.  
Edward and Harvey walked into the restaurant, greeted by a gentle rumble of dinner conversation.  
There were about 10 small round tables, each with two or three incredible old looking chairs.  
It looked cosy, almost romantic. Maybe Edward was wrong, maybe this was a date and he'd misjudged the mood.  
Harvey smiled at the maître-d, "Hi, Gil, nice day?"  
"Better for you presence, sir… your usual table?" the short, black haired, black suited man said sweetly, pulling himself from his plinth and beginning to walk the two men across the room, to a table in the corner, next to an artificially frosted window.  
Edward took his seat, watching Harvey take his, "This place is lovely, Harvey. You come here often I suppose?"  
Harvey nodded as he took a menu from Gil, and began to look it over, "Once a week or something."  
"Bring many guys here…?" Edward asked with a smirk, taking a menu for himself.  
Harvey chuckled and shook his head, "With this face? Almost never. I was surprised that you…"  
Edward blushed, and squirmed slightly on his seat, "Yeah…" he forced his eyes to his menu, swallowing his smile, "Uh… I think I'm gunna have the uh…"  
"Have the rigatoni, it's lovely," Harvey smiled, sounding slightly authoritative.  
Edward nodded, "That's what you're having?"  
Harvey gave a slight nod. He took Edward's menu and handed it, along with his own, back to Gil.  
Gil nodded, "Usual?"  
"Two, please," Harvey nodded, he turned his head back to Edward, smiling widely at the smaller man.  
What did he see in Jon? Jon was no where near good enough for him.  
Harvey and Edward had been friends for… almost half a year.  
He'd noticed about 2 months ago, when they had started becoming closer, that whenever Edward talked of Jon he'd suddenly gain this odd tone of apprehension, and become a little jumpy. Then he'd started to notice the bruises, old and new, mostly on his arms and his neck.  
It killed him to see someone so kind being treated so badly.  
And the worst thing; Edward wouldn't admit it, and Harvey could do nothing but speculate. It made him so angry. Jon had that man wrapped around his little finger, had him 'eager' to deal with every whim or sexual fantasy that might pop into his straw-filled brain.  
"I don't understand you Edward…" Harvey said quietly, observing the smaller man who sat smiling at him, "You say you love Jon, but you're out with me, even though we both know he won't like that you're here. And you won't tell him."  
Edward's eyes dropped to the knife and fork on the table, "Well I… everyone's allowed to keep secrets…"  
Harvey nodded in understanding, "…But you'll lie to him about it, or you already have done."  
Edward frowned, his eyes still resting on the knife and fork, "Well… I really like you, and… I don't think he should have the power to stop us from meeting up."  
Harvey's smile widened, and he felt his heart jump.  
Even that was a massive step. When they had first begun talking Edward wouldn't even text him while Jon was at home, he adamantly refused to meet with him, other than for business.  
Either Edward's view was gradually changing, or Harvey now meant enough to the ginger haired man that he was willing to go against Jon's wishes.  
"I agree… and I really like you too,"   
Edward jumped slightly as the waiter appeared at his side, and placed plates of food noisily in front of the pair.  
The smaller man watched the waiter walked off, then returned his eyes to his friend, "…I think texts from you are probably…" He picked up his fork and prodded at his food, not intending to finish the sentence.  
Harvey knew what he meant.  
The large man smiled softly, "Yeah, I feel the same."  
He watched Edward prod at his food, then nodded gently towards him, "Eat it." He took a mouthful of his own to encourage the smaller man.  
Edward smiled and scooped his food up with his fork, shovelling it into his mouth.  
He eyes widened as he chewed. "Oh my god," he said gently after he swallowed, "That's lovely."  
Harvey nodded, trying to stop himself from laughing, "I know. It's my recipe."  
"What?"  
"It's my recipe…" Harvey said with a smile, "The sauce, at least, I think they may have changed some of the vegetables this time… I'll have to talk to someone about that."  
"Oh don't, it's lovely, you're a fantastic cook," Edward said, seeming to plea slightly, as if he thought that when Harvey said 'talk to' he meant 'kill'.  
Though Harvey knew, with Twoface, that was always a possibility.  
"I didn't cook it, just came up with it, I doubt I could cook it this well."  
Edward took in more of the food, making sure to scoop up as much of the pink sauce as he could from the plate. "Still, probably better than I could do."  
"You're telling me you can't cook? Does _Jon_ cook for you?"  
Edward laughed, like that was the most hilarious thing he'd heard that day, "Oh god no! His idea of 'food' is microwaved slush… I like to cook, but… I'm kinda awful at it."  
"You could learn?"  
Edward shook his head, "Jon'd never let me, he'd say it was a waste of time and money."  
"Even though it would benefit him at the end of it?" Harvey frowned; Jon seemed so short sighted.  
Edward nodded, his eyes were darting between Harvey and his plate of food, he wasn't sure which looked more appetising.  
"You look really nice," Edward eventually said, noticing that Harvey was eating a lot slower than he was, and thinking that talking might help him slow himself a little.  
Harvey looked down at himself; he was wearing his usual half-coloured suit, and matching tie. He looked no different to how he normally looked.  
Edward was wearing an olive green shirt that had a golden question mark sown into the pocket. His hair was damn near perfect and his green eyes seemed to shine from his glowing face.  
"You look gorgeous."  
Edward scoffed, his eyes flicking again between Harvey and his food, "Nah, I…"  
"Yeah you do."  
"I… I can look better than this, if I'd had more time I would have…" Edward seemed suddenly flustered; he wasn't used to that kind of compliment unless he'd _really_ tried to look good.  
Harvey chuckled, amused by Edward's sudden awkwardness, "You look perfect…" he cooed gently.  
Edward felt himself blush and felt his head drop, "I don't, I really don't."  
Harvey laughed again, reaching across the table to lift Edward's head, "Yes," he said, looking into Edward's green eyes, "You do."  
Edward's blush deepened as Harvey's eyes dug into him, he tilted his head into Harvey's head a little. It felt like he was letting Harvey's eyes search his soul, he wasn't sure what the man was looking for, but…  
Harvey sighed gently, and dropped his hand from Edward's face, leaning back in his chair to look at his food.  
Edward's eyes also dropped to his plate, and he scooped some more into his mouth, Harvey followed, stabbing gently at the food and sliding it into his mouth.  
"…This really is lovely, Harvey," Edward said gently, his voice like a song to Harvey's ears, making him smile and blush as if it were the first time he'd heard the compliment.  
"Thanks," Harvey said softly, finishing the last bits of food on his plate, and waiting for Edward to finish his own. "Will you be wanting a desert or…?"  
Edward stuttered slightly, "U-uh I-I… No, no thank you." He didn't want to say it, but he'd only brought enough money for one course of food, he couldn't risk taking too much or Jon would start asking questions.  
"Are you sure? The chocolate-fudge cheesecake is almost as nice as the rigatoni," Harvey said, smiling widely.  
Edward felt his heart drop, "Y-you came up for the recipe for that too didn't you…?"  
Harvey nodded lightly, still smiling.  
"I-I," Edward felt his voice crack a little, "I can't…"  
Harvey frowned, tilting his head slightly.  
"I… I didn't bring enough… uh," Edward said, playing nervously with the last morsels of food on his plate.  
Harvey suddenly smiled, "Oh… Edward, it's fine, I'll pay for you, it's fine."  
"No I… I can't have you pay for me, that's too much."  
Harvey chuckled, "Edward, I was going to offer to pay anyway, we don't want Jon finding your receipt or something and flipping out."  
Edward smiled, feeling the lump that had appeared in his throat start to ebb away, replaced with relief.  
The small man nodded, "Ok then, if you insist."  
Harvey smiled sweetly, and called Gil over, and told him to bring over two slices of cheesecake.  
Edward smiled, feeling a little unsure of himself now, he wasn't exactly sure if he were comfortable with Harvey spending money on him; paying for someone's food was more something someone might do on a date…  
This wasn't a date.  
Harvey smiled as the cheesecake was brought over, "I think you'll like this, I know how much you like chocolate-fudge."  
Edward smiled widely and nodded, looking at the slab of food. He picked up his fork and cut a sliver from the creamy-brown block.  
It seemed to melt as it touched his tongue, becoming a chocolate liquid, running down his throat, making him let out a deep moan, "Oh, Harvey, this is so good."  
Harvey tittered lightly, tucking into his own cake, trying to stop himself laughing too loud at the sweet noises the smaller man was making.  
"How did you come up with this?" Edward asked, seeming almost excited as he ate; this food was better than any sex he had ever had.  
Harvey shrugged, "I just thought it might be something you'd enjoy."  
"You invented it _for me_?" Edward asked, feeling his breath escaped him in astonishment.  
"Well I was going to just get them to make you one for your birthday, but you said I wasn't allowed to come over, so… now they sell it…" The last 4 words had a slight hint of sadness to them, and Edward felt a weight of guilt fall on him: It was supposed to be one grand masterpiece, especially for his birthday, and now it had been reduced to an everyday thing.  
"I'm sorry, I wanted to see you, but Jon said he had this whole thing planned so…"  
"What did you do?"  
"We… ate tai food and watched '28 days later'…"  
"But you hate tai food, and you hate zombie films."  
Edward chuckled and nodded, "I know." Harvey had only known him for a few months and he seemed to have a better grasp on Edward's likes and dislikes than Jon did…  
"But Jon likes it…?" Harvey said with a growl, Edward nodded in return. "If it were my boyfriend's birthday I'd purposely do everything that he liked that I didn't. Just to show how much I loved him," Harvey's voice was low and soft, making Edward's face feel warm and causing a soft weight in his stomach. He felt like he should do or say something but he wasn't sure what.  
The smaller man jumped suddenly as he felt a hard buzz in his pocket: his phone was ringing. He jolted, looking at the caller ID.  
"It's Jon," he said frantically.  
Harvey nodded calmly, "Answer then, I'll be quiet."  
He lifted the phone to his ear, "H-Hi, Jon, I'm in the middle of picking up that thing…"  
" _Edward… I had to come home early, I got attacked by some _thug_ , I've really hurt my leg, I need you here…_" Jon's voice plead down the phone, it sounded like he'd been crying.  
Edward's smile dropped, "Oh my god!" Edward almost squealed, feeling guilt heavy on him; he should have been there when Jon got home, he should be there now!  
"I'm coming home right now, I'm so sorry! I'll be home in 5 minutes," Edward got to his feet, leaving Harvey staring at him.  
He began to walk to the door, tears starting to come into his eyes.   
He felt something grab onto his arm, stopping him from moving. He turned and saw Harvey holding a hand to his arm, "Edward, what happened?"  
The smaller man held his hand to his head, "Oh, god, Harvey, I'm sorry, it's Jon, he hurt his leg I've got to go."  
Harvey held fast on Edward's arm, and swiftly moved his hand to Edward's face; there was such fear in the man's voice, it made his heart ache.   
He pulled Edward's face to his, and let their lips touch and press together gently, and Edward kissed him back, opening his mouth slightly to hold Harvey's lower lip between his.  
Harvey pulled back after a second, and they let out a tiny, simultaneous sigh. Harvey let his hand fall from Edward's chin, "Call me later, ok?"  
"Ok," Edward said breathily, seeming so much calmer now, so much happier, "…Ok, Harvey… I…I will."  
He aimed one last, tiny smile at Harvey, then turned on his heels and left.  
It wasn't until he was half way home that he fully realised what had just happened.


	7. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn it Eddie, make up your mind...

He had kissed Harvey.  
…Well, no, Harvey had kissed him, but he had kissed back.  
Edward looked over at Jon; the tall man was laid out on the sofa, an ice-pack on his leg.  
He bit his lip; he had kissed him.  
Oh god, it had felt so perfect…  
Oh god, he shouldn't have done it…  
Jon smiled up at him, unaware of the man's internal struggle, "Did you enjoy meeting Twoface?"  
Edward shrugged coldly, rubbing his own arm for comfort, "I guess."  
Jon frowned gently, "I thought you said you were getting a box of solder out of it?"  
Eddie's eyes dropped to the floor and he began to gently nibble his top lip, he was still able to feel Harvey's lips on him. He nodded gently.  
"So…" Jon said with a slight shake of his head, "I see no solder."  
Edward felt his face flush a little, "I… I had to leave before I could get it. I'll have to go back out to see him again once you're feeling better."  
Jon nodded, and returned his eyes to the blaring TV, "Make me a ham sandwich would you?"  
It sounded like a request but Eddie knew it was more a demand, he knew how tetchy Jon got if Edward didn't do what he wanted.  
Edward walked into the kitchen wordlessly, and began making Jon's food.  
He couldn't stop nibbling his lips, he could still taste Harvey on them. He tasted so nice.  
It was like the world had stopped.  
It was all he could think of.  
It had been so perfect.  
Harvey's lips had taken all the tention from him, he had never felt so calm, so right.  
He could feel that hard lump in his throat, telling him he shouldn't have done it, but… he just didn't care. It had been too perfect for him to care.  
Jon smiled as Edward approached him, and reached out a hand to take his food, "Thank you sweet thing…" he whispered as he took the plate, "I love you."  
The lump in Edward's throat grew and hardened, he swallowed hard, "I love you too," he mumbled weakly.  
Jon took a bite from his sandwich, and looked up quizzically at his boyfriend, "What's the matter..?" he asked, patting the space on the sofa in front of his navel.  
Edward took his place next to Jon, laying down and pushing his behind against Jon's lower stomach and his back against Jon's chest, but he kept his feet on the floor to avoid Jon's injured foot.  
"I'm fine," he mumbled, his tone still weak. Jon placed his plate on the table, and let his arm hang over his boyfriend's chest.  
"Don't lie, Eddie…" he said all too sweetly, nuzzling gently into the back of Edward's head.  
Edward shook his head, "I'm fine, really, it's just… something H-Twoface said."  
Jon frowned, Edward cowered slightly as the other man's voice rose; Jon's temper rose easily, and Edward could feel the sudden anger leaking from him, "What? What did he say that's upset you?"  
"Nothing, nothing, really, Jon, it's fine," Edward pled, raising his hand to the arm wrapped around him, and stroking it calmingly.  
He felt Jon start to calm, and felt a kiss place it's self on the back of his head.  
Jon huffed, "…I might come with you when you go to see him. I'm not having some ugly fuck insulting _my_ boy." He squeezed his arm around the small man, lowering his hand gently and fondling with Edward's belt.  
Edward frowned, "Jon... no, I…" He moved himself away from Jon's unwanted touch, but Jon continued regardless.  
Jon sighed, "I can't believe you weren't here when I got home. I was in so much pain, I just wanted to see your face."  
Edward flipped himself on the sofa, looking into Jon's harsh eyes, "W-Well, I'm here now…"  
"You seem a little far away…" Jon moved his spare hand to Edward's face, cupping the small man's jaw.  
Edward smiled, "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"  
Jon leant in and gave his boyfriend a soft kiss, humming gently as he did, "I'm sure I could think of some way to use you."  
"A-A foot-rub or something…?" Edward said hopefully, feeling Jon's kiss replace Harvey's, and feeling the man's hot breath move to his neck.  
"Guess again, kid…" Jon breathed as he kissed at Edward's neck, sliding his hand into Edward's boxers, moving straight to Edward's hole.  
Edward squirmed, but leaned in for a kiss despite his discomfort, "Y-You have anything specific in mind, Jon…?"  
Jon chuckled, rubbing his fingers over the tight orifice, "You're a smart boy, I'm sure you can figure out what I want."  
Edward bit hard on his lip as Jon played with him, he swallowed hard, "B-But Jon," he gasped, a sudden realisation coming to him, "Your leg, I don't wanna hurt you."  
Jon frowned, and removed his hand, "…You're right…" he said pensively, moving away slightly, "Hmm. I suppose I should wait a bit."  
The taller man sighed gently, turning himself from Edward, "Well, go on then, get off."  
"What?" Edward whimpered, "Why?"  
Jon shrugged, "Well you obviously don't want to be with me at the moment, so go," he pointed to the loveseat in the corner, "There's your seat."  
"No," Edward almost screeched, fear heavy on him, "Jon, I do, I do want to be with you."  
"Do you? You're being distant, you don't want sex. Edward, you wanted to have sex when you broke your arm, but I pull a muscle and you say no?" he shook his head in disbelief.  
"I-I just didn't want to hurt you, babe, come on, I didn't mean it."  
Jon shook his head and pushed at Edward, pushing him away, "Fuck off, Edward…"  
"No, Jon, please," Edward pled, pushing himself closer to his boyfriend, pressing a kiss to his lips. Jon huffed, not reciprocating the kiss, Edward felt tears start to come to his eyes, "I'll do what ever you want, please."  
Jon smiled, and started kissing back, "You _know_ what I want…"


	8. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coz I won't get to upload tomorrow, I'm doing it now x))
> 
> (The smex bit is short because, in my mind, poor Eddie didn't get to climax during his sex with Jon -one of the reasons he is feeling a little repulsed by him- and Harvey had probably been going a little longer than Edward thought he had... I like to think that the thought of Edward thinking about their kiss would be enough to get the big guy going xD)

Edward looked over at Jon: the man was lying on the sofa, drenched in rapidly cooling sweat, his cock still out and his shirt still pulled up to his collar, snoring lightly as he slept.  
 _Hi Harvey…_  
Edward couldn't stop himself from twitching, his breath was still jumping and now the lump in his throat was even larger.  
It seemed to lessen when Harvey's name appeared on his phone.  
 _Dent: Hi, you alright?_  
Edward sighed, smiling, his muscles starting to loosen.  
 _I'm fine :3 You?_  
He started to relax in his chair, draping his arm over one arm of the leather chair and resting his feet on the other.  
 _Dent: I'm good. What you up to?_  
 _Relaxing, just dealt with Jon's man-urges *rolls eyes*_  
Eddie looked over at Jon again, then into the kitchen. He wondered if he should risk waking Jon and make himself a hot chocolate.  
 _Dent: Oh… right… There's a new ep of Apprentice on 7, you watchin'?_  
Edward picked up the remote, and turned the channel to 7, muting the sound and putting the subtitles on.  
 _Yeah. Did Marie go last time?_  
He sat and watched the programme, looking over sporadically at Jon to see if he were stirring.  
 _Dent: Nah, Don._  
 _WHAT?! But I liked him!_  
Edward frowned and shook his head, the judges on that show knew nothing…  
 _Dent: Why? He was an arse!_  
 _Yeah, but he had nice hair…_  
There was a minute or so before Harvey's next text, during which Edward silently watched the tv, and continued debating in his head if he should make a hot chocolate.  
Screw it, he'd risk it.  
He got to his feet and tiptoed past his boyfriend, hoping that the man wouldn't suddenly outstretch a hand and grab his leg or something.  
He put the kettle on, and shushed the hissing noise it made while he scooped chocolate powder into his cup.  
 _Dent: Have you thought about what happened today?_  
Edward smiled to himself, and felt the lump in his throat lessen moreso and felt himself blush deeply.  
 _It's all I've thought about._  
He poured the boiling water into the cup and stirred the milky-brown liquid.  
 _Dent: Even while dealing with Jon's 'man-urges'? xD_  
Edward stifled a laugh.  
 _…Maybe… (;_  
The next text came under 10 seconds later.  
 _Dent: Really?_  
 _yeah_  
Edward swallowed hard, unable to stop his racing pulse.  
 _Is that a bad thing?_  
He took a sip of his drink, waiting for Harvey's next text. He felt his heart skip when he saw Harvey's name glowing on the screen again.  
 _Dent:No_  
Just 'No'? What did that mean?  
 _What? You like that I was thinking of you?_  
Edward smiled and sipped his drink, thinking the question would stump Harvey for a little while, and being completely surprised when the phone buzzed 2 seconds later.  
 _Dent: Yes (;_  
Eddie smirked to himself.  
 _Really? Why?_  
He tried to swallow his smile, but he couldn't, it stayed stuck to his face.  
 _Dent: I dunno… (:_  
 _It turns you on doesn't it!? (;_  
Eddie looked over at Jon, he still hadn't stirred. Maybe he should wake him and take him to bed?  
 _Dent: You turn me on._  
Edward couldn't stop a small chuckle coming from his lips. He forced a hand to his mouth to stifle it.  
 _Yeah? How so?_  
He tiptoed back through the living-room with his drink, and sat himself on his chair, taking care to be as quiet as he could.  
 _Dent: I like that you associate me with that kind of pleasure._  
Edward bit his lip slightly, he could still taste Harvey's lips on them, even though they had been tainted by Jon.  
 _You like that I think of you while being touched?_  
Edward could feel his pulse quickening slightly, thumping hard in his throat.  
 _Dent: Yes._  
Edward exhaled deeply.  
 _You like that I think of you while I touch myself?_  
Edward changed the channel on the TV again, looking for something comedic to watch before bed.  
 _Dent: Eddie stop it, you're gunna make me hard xD_  
 _Maybe that's what I'm trying to do (;_  
Edward's heart was thumping in his throat. This… was this bad? Was this cheating?  
Was he about to cheat on Jon?  
He swallowed hard, remembering how good the kiss had felt, imagining how good _everything else_ would be. Could be.  
 _Dent: I hope it is._  
 _Would it make you hard if I said I was texting you while touching myself?_  
Edward lowered his hand to his boxers; he didn't want to _lie_ after all.  
 _Dent: It has…_  
 _Good, it's true (;_  
Edward gripped himself, beginning to run his hand over his length.  
 _Dent: Really?_  
 _Yes._  
He gave his length a few hard strokes.  
 _Dent: I am too._  
Edward's heart jumped, did a full backflip in his chest.  
 _And thinking of me?_  
Edward shifted on his chair so he had better access to himself.  
 _Dent: Of course._  
Edward smiled, letting images of Harvey fill his mind; of him sitting in his own chair, in the same position Edward was, with his own hand in his own boxers, stroking himself just as Edward was.  
 _I'm thinking of you thinking of me._  
Perhaps Harvey's hand movements would even match his own…  
The mere thought made him harder, his face felt like it was on fire, he continued moving his hand.  
 _Dent: Call me, I want to hear you._  
Edward gulped a mouthful of air, his throat growing dry.  
He raised himself to his feet, and moved silently from the room, into the bedroom, and he locked the door behind him, just in case.  
He dialled Harvey's number.  
"Harvey," Edward whispered quietly as he sat on his bed.  
" _Hi…_ " Harvey's voice came breathy, almost panting down the phone. The sound made a flood of ecstasy shudder over Edward's body.  
"You're touching yourself?" Edward asked even though he _knew_ Harvey was.  
" _Yeah_ ," the reply whispered, Edward could hear the tension in his voice. His hand immediately dropped and he started pumping quickly at his own length, he let out a small moan into the phone.  
Harvey moaned loudly, " _Yes… E-Edward… Tell me w-what you're thinking of._ "  
"You," Edward half-moaned, his eyes slipping closed, pressing the phone hard to his ear so he wouldn't miss a single sound.  
" _Doing what?_ "  
Edward could hear Harvey's hand moving, and tried to time his movements so they matched.  
He let himself imagine; if Harvey were with him, Harvey's hand in place of his own.  
"T-Touching me."  
He swallowed and continued pumping himself, listening to Harvey moaning gently into his ear.  
Harvey's breath hitched, obviously he had liked what he'd heard, " _Yes…_ "  
Edward groaned at the word, his head buzzing, "Harvey, you feel so good…"  
Harvey let out a long grunt, " _Imagine me inside you._ "  
Edward moaned, his touch firming, he leant back on the bed, "Ah, yes…"  
" _M-Me kissing your neck._ "  
Edward let out another moan, his eyes squeezed shut, holding onto the image.  
Simply _imagining_ Harvey doing it was better than Jon doing it in reality.  
" _Moving o-over you…_ " Harvey's words finished with a loud groan.  
Edward tipped his head back, pushing it into the covers.  
He could almost smell the larger man, feel him over him, in him.  
It was Harvey's hand running over his length, not his own. Edward was causing those moans and grunts to come from the larger man, "Oh, god… Harvey…"  
" _Yes,_ " Harvey almost screeched down the phone, Edward could hear his hand moving fast, and moved his own in time.  
Edward gasped down the phone, making small joy-filled noises, he could hear that Harvey was close. He himself was too, if he kept pace he was sure they would come synchronously. "Harvey, I-I'm close… I."  
Harvey let out a tortured moan, " _Yes, Edward, I can f-feel it…_ "  
Edward could hear Harvey's breath quickening, hitching, he could hear him gasping through pleasure. He was returning the noises, the pants and gasps, he could feel the tension growing to breaking point in his stomach and he knew that Harvey felt the same.  
Harvey growled deeply, the growl turning into a fettering scream as he reached his peak.  
Edward's breath stuttered and the gentle moans grew painfully loud, he knew he could wake Jon, but he didn't care, he wanted Harvey.  
God he wanted Harvey.  
He gritted his teeth and let out a last stifled grunt as he came into his hand.  
He lay still, panting into the phone, listening to Harvey pant back, the smile on his face was so wide, so true. This moment wasn't perfect but he didn't want it to end.  
He wasn't with Harvey, it hadn't been Harvey touching him, but, regardless… he felt so happy.  
He lifted his head suddenly as he heard a loud cough come from downstairs.  
He held the phone to his ear again, savouring the metaphorical closeness the two of them had just shared, and feeling a weight fall on him with the prospect of the words that were about to leave him.  
"Harvey… I have to go."  
" _Oh_ ," Harvey said, sounding a little shocked at the suddenness of it, " _O-ok._ "  
"I'm sorry," Edward said quietly, hanging up the phone before Harvey could say anything else, feeling that lump come into his throat again.  
He unlocked the door and took himself downstairs.  
Jon was still laying on the sofa, still sound asleep.  
Edward looked down at the phone in his hand, as he did, the screen lit up again.  
 _Dent: I want to see you again. Soon. <3_


	9. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can guess what they're going to do at Harvey's house...

Edward had apologised profusely to Harvey, he hadn't wanted to leave, he really hadn't, he'd thought Jon was awake, and, despite the thoughts against it during their event, he didn't want Jon to find out.  
He hadn't wanted the moment to be ruined, but it had been anyway.  
Harvey said it was fine; it wasn't Edward's fault, the moment wasn't ruined, just cut a little short. It had still been perfect.  
 _Dent: And I want more moments like that._  
 _I do too._  
He was having to keep his phone partially hidden as he made Jon's breakfast. Jon had woken up mad because Edward hadn't taken him upstairs, he'd just left him on the sofa, no blanket or anything.  
 _Dent: Which brings me back to my question: Can you meet me today?_  
Edward swallowed hard, looking over to Jon; still on his spot on the sofa, still mindlessly watching the tv.  
He said his leg was better, he was going to work in about an hour, he'd be gone for about… 7 hours? 7 at the least.  
 _Yeah._  
Edward held back a guilty smile as he pressed send.  
"Edward, I think the toast is burning," Jon said listlessly, not making any effort to check or help.  
Edward swore and retrieved the blackened toast, and threw it in the bin.  
Jon smirked, "What is wrong with you Edward? How could you let that happen?"  
"I-I'm sorry, Jon, I…" Edward stuttered, replacing the bread in the toaster and turning down the heat setting.  
"Don't burn them again."  
 _Dent: Brilliant (: When/where?_  
 _At 10? Jon will be at work. Meet at the usual place?_  
Edward poured Jon's coffee and handed it to him. "I'm sorry about last night, you just… looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you."  
Jon took the cup, and took a sip, "So you left me down here in the cold?"  
Honestly, Edward simply hadn't wanted Jon near him that night, he didn't want Jon's touch on him, he hadn't wanted the images in his mind to be tainted like that.  
"I'm sorry," he repeated, unsure of what else he could say.  
 _Dent: How long will you be able to stay?_  
He took Jon's toast and buttered it, and handed it to the taller man.  
He didn't even get a thank you.  
 _All day? (:_  
He sat down next to Jon to drink his cup of juice. The taller man looked over at him, "Aren't you going to fetch me my mask? I can't do an awful lot without my mask…"  
Edward scrambled to his feet, "Oh god, yes, sorry," he said with a slight gasp. He rushed up stairs and pulled the burlap mask from it's box.  
 _Dent: (:_  
Edward smiled widely as he walked down the stairs, he could feel himself becoming excited already; his pulse quickening and his insides growing hot.  
He didn't even care if they ended up having sex, just being in the same room would be more than enough; hearing his voice and seeing him smile.  
Jon took his mask and gave Edward a soft kiss on the nose, giggling gently, "You're such a lovely boy."  
Edward nodded, kissing Jon back, ignoring the lump in his throat that was telling him to stop.  
Jon smiled, "You know what? …I think I'm gunna head out early. I have a shipment coming in and I'd like to be there to see it's delivery."  
"Oh," Edward said shortly, trying not to let the happiness inside him show on his face, "Really? ...Ok."  
That would mean he'd have whole extra 20 minutes to get himself ready, he could make sure he looked really perfect.  
He wanted to look _perfect_.  
Maybe he should do something about his chest hair…?  
No, he remembered Harvey saying something about liking a bit of hair.  
Maybe just tidy it up then.  
He bid Jon goodbye, and Edward went upstairs and had a shower.  
He stared at himself in the mirror again.  
He didn't look that bad today.  
Maybe he'd lost a bit of weight?  
He hummed happily to himself as he moisturised his face and began to get dressed.  
He wore the nicest pair of boxers he could find, his cleanest green trousers, his usual purple tie, and his best black shirt. No jacket, he didn't want to look too formal.  
In no time at all he was out the door, on his way to the café. He hoped Harvey didn't mind paying again because he only had $10 on him.  
He ordered a drink and sat at the usual table, he had a little bit of time before Harvey was supposed to arrive, he sat and read their old text on his phone. He loved doing that, he could see their relationship developing, it was so sweet.  
Harvey's first hello, he had seemed so formal, he had arranged a meeting with Jon and Eddie, business stuff.  
After the meeting, Harvey had texted him saying: _'What was up with Jon today?'_  
'Nothing, he's always like that.'  
'Wow, that must be hard to put up with.'  
'Sometimes, but I'm ok with that.'  
'I dunno if I would be.'  
'Well you are famous for your short temper '  
After that, they had started texting everyday, finding that they had a lot in common…  
Then Eddie had started to _feel_ for him.  
More than he ever had for Jon.  
Edward sighed.  
He loved Jon. His life with Jon was perfect, almost, there were kinks, but there were always kinks.   
Harvey was… Harvey was perfect. But he was unstable, not just in his personality…  
At this point Edward would begin to second guess what he was doing here, but elation leapt in him as he saw Harvey appear at the door.  
"Hi," Harvey said softly, his voice like fresh air.  
Edward smiled, "Hi… How are you?"  
Harvey came to Edward's side, "I'm good. How are you?"  
Edward nodded, "Yeah, I'm good. What are we going to do during our day together?"  
Harvey shrugged, and held out his hand to take Edward from his seat, pulling the man gently to his side, "I thought I might take you to my place."  
"R-Really? I thought you said…"  
"Yeah, but I trust you not to give my location away…so." He shrugged again, "We could buy a pizza and watch films or play pool or…"  
"You have a pool table?" Edward said, his mouth hanging open in surprise.  
Harvey nodded, smiling gently, "Yeah, I'm no good but, I though the skill might help me close a deal or two."  
Edward chuckled lightly, and took himself from Harvey's side, beginning to walk towards the door, "Okay, it sounds fun. You'll have to teach me though."  
Harvey nodded as they left the café, "I'd be more than happy to."


	10. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D'aw. poor Eddie...

Harvey, it turned out, lived in one of the new large apartment complexes, about 10 minutes from the centre of Gotham.  
Those places were expensive. Edward hadn't asked Harvey how much he earned, but this gave him a rough idea: a lot.  
The man took his shoes off at the door, and dropped his keys in his shoes 'so he wouldn't lock himself out'. Edward took his shoes off too, suddenly realising that, as much care as he had taken with the rest of his appearance, he was wearing neon green, fluffy sleep-socks.  
He felt the deep red embarrassment fall on his face, and hoped to god Harvey wouldn't notice.  
He looked up from his feet, and saw that Harvey was looking down at them, the larger man lifted his eyes to Edward's and smiled, then turned and walked down the hall.  
He had noticed, but he hadn't pointed it out.  
Jon wouldn't have done that, he would have started laughing then said something like 'cute socks, Ed,' and he would have ruffled Edward's hair or something before walking off.  
Made him feel self conscious just for the fun of it.  
Edward followed Harvey into the living-room, observing the room; a mixture of modern and antique furnishing. It was pretty.  
"Coffee?" Harvey asked, "No, you don't drink coffee… Juice? Milk? Oh! I've got flat lemonade! You said you liked lemonade, right?"  
Edward smiled and nodded, he remembered only mentioning it once.  
"Make yourself comfortable, I'll get it for you," Harvey said, moving back out of the room, towards where Edward assumed the kitchen was.  
Edward hopped onto one of the chairs: red brushed leather with golden buttons affixed to it. He pulled out his phone and scrolled down, yeah, there it was: _Dent: I just saw a shop selling flat lemonade, I didn't know that was a real thing.  
'lol, yeah, I love it, they also have a fizzy strawberry juice, it's SO good!'_  
That was all he'd said, and that was a month and a half ago, he was surprised Harvey had remembered.  
Or maybe Harvey had looked through his old texts to find a hint of what Edward might like to do.  
Edward smiled to himself, lifting his head as Harvey re-entered the room, holding a long glass of yellowy-orange water, Edward stood to take it, and thanked the larger man.  
"I'm surprised you agreed to come here," Harvey said gently, watching as Edward sipped his drink.  
Edward smiled, quickly finishing his drink and placing the glass on the coffee table, "I seem to surprise you a lot."  
Harvey almost blushed, "Well, I'm… not used to doing this kind of thing."  
"You mean the Jon thing?" Edward said, his eyes cast to the floor.  
"No, I mean _this_. I've never had phone sex, I've never… brought anyone back here."  
Edward frowned, outstretching a hand to take Harvey's own, "Why have you brought _me_ here then?"  
Harvey smirked, letting Edward caress his scarred hand, "I told you already; I trust you."  
Edward looked at their entwining fingers, "I'm glad…"  
Edward felt Harvey's grip tighten around him, and swallowed gently, he looked up into Harvey's eyes, and felt his heart leap in his throat. He had never seen the mix of love and lust that now filled Harvey's eyes. It made his stomach clench and his throat dry, he could feel his face growing red under the man's eyes.  
He didn't know what to do now, he just stood there, waiting for Harvey to make the next move.  
His heart started to thump loudly in his head as Harvey's hand moved up his arm, sliding across Edward's back and beginning to pull him close, cupping the base of the smaller man's head and pressing their lips together.  
Edward suddenly let out a deep moan, letting his eyes slip shut, his arms moved round Harvey's back, under his clothes, clasping at the soft skin. The pair kissed deeply, both moaning loudly. Edward could feel Harvey's breath filling him, feel him becoming hot.  
Harvey started to move slightly, groping behind him for the doorknob, they stumbled backwards, into what Edward guessed was the bedroom, he didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to draw his senses from what was happening; the other man's lips and tongue moving in perfect sync with his own.  
He felt Harvey turn, and turned with him. He felt something knock against his legs; a bed, and he leant back, sitting gently on the bed, letting Harvey lean over him and push him down, kneeling on the bed, kissing him frantically.  
Harvey's lips moved from Edward's lips, moving to the man's neck, kissing and sucking gently at the soft and sensitive skin, Edward's mouth lulled open, his moans filling the air.  
He could feel himself becoming hard as Harvey's hands moved over him, he mirrored the action, making Harvey growl and groan into his neck.  
Edward gasped as he felt a pinch on his neck, "H-Harvey," he said, warning slightly, "D-Don't…mark…" Harvey growled, and stopped nipping, enjoying Edward's moans even though he had to restrain himself.  
Even if this was as good as it would ever get, it was better than anything else he had experienced, Edward couldn't stop the noises coming from him, just this, it felt perfect.  
Harvey was undressing him now, gently undoing Edward's shirt, pulling the arms down and casting the clothing aside, kissing and sucking down the man's chest as he did the same with Edward's trousers and boxers, leaving the man naked on the bed.  
Edward opened his eyes and felt his breath start to judder as anxiety filled him: This was it, this was him, about to cheat on Jon, there would be no going back, no other option.  
No, this was too much, this was too fast, he didn't want this yet, he didn't want to make this choice.  
But Harvey wanted it, he was expecting him to…  
Edward could feel himself starting to shake, tears starting to come to his eyes, "H-Harvey I…"  
Harvey lifted his head, and the lust-filled smile that was covering his face quickly dropped, he shifted away from Edward, lifting a hand to the man's face, "Edward? Are you ok?"  
He noticed the tears in Edward's eyes, and moved back slightly, "Edward, I'm sorry, this is too much isn't it?"  
Edward was taking sharp breaths, trying to stop himself crying, curling in on himself slightly, he nodded gently, "I-I'm S-sorry…"  
Harvey sat on the bed next to him, wanting to reach out and comfort him but not knowing what Edward's reaction would be, "Edward, don't apologise, it's my fault, I should have…asked or something, I'm sorry."  
"I-I'm so sorry I-I know y-you want… b-but I…" Edward stuttered through his breaths, tears beginning to escape him despite his efforts.  
Harvey pulled him into a tight hug, pressing Edward to his chest, "No, Edward, don't apologise, it's fine, I understand."  
He pulled Edward's face to his, looking into his eyes, "Edward, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, I understand."  
Edward nodded, nuzzling into Harvey's shoulder, Harvey smiled gently, "We can just hug?" he cooed almost mockingly, trying to lighten the mood.  
Edward forced a small chuckle from his lips, anything to bring attention away from his tears, "I-I think that might b-be a good idea."


	11. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

Edward leant over the pool table, now fully clothed, and pushed himself onto his toes, he could feel Harvey levering him, pressed so close to him. “And now you pull your arm back, and try to hit the centre…” Harvey pashed his arm forward, swiftly knocking the white ball across the table, “of the ball.”  
A red ball fell into the hole, and Harvey ran a hand up Edward’s side, peeling himself away, “Perfect.”  
Edward stayed bent over the table, resting his head in his hands and watching Harvey move around the table, finding the best place to make his move, “Like you?”  
Harvey smirked, eyeing the balls that were left on the green felt, “I’m not perfect, nowhere near. Now get off the table so I can take my next move.”  
Edward smiled widely and shook his head, “The way I see it; if I don’t move, you can’t beat me.”  
“Do you want to learn or not?” Harvey said with a smile.  
Edward shrugged in answer, straightening himself slowly, letting out a small hum as he did.  
Harvey smirked gently; he could tell how unsure Edward was of what they were doing. He was certainly interested; he was constantly flirting, making every attempt to touch and caress Harvey that he could.  
But, when it came to sex, to actually doing it, he seemed so scared, like Harvey might lash out and hit him at any second.  
He had seemed so upset that he’d been unable to go through with it, like he was letting Harvey down, like he’d deceived him by coming here or something.  
“Ya’ know what?” Harvey said, placing his cue on the pool table, “I think I forfeit. I’m hungry.”  
Edward nodded, “Well it is…” he searched the room with his eyes for a clock, finding one on one of the half-sized bookshelves, “Almost 2… I could do with some food too.” He hadn’t eaten much for breakfast, and he was starting to feel it, this half-portion-diet Jon had him on was taking a bit of a toll on his strength.  
Harvey nodded, and talked from the room, Edward following, “I can do chicken and chorizo pizza?”  
Edward’s eyes bulged at the mention of ‘pizza’, “Oh that sounds lovely.” He trotted after Harvey as the larger man walked into the kitchen, and watched him pull 2 frozen pizza’s from the freezer.  
That was a little bit of a disappointment; Edward had hoped to taste some of Harvey’s good-enough-to-be-used-in-restaurants food, cooked by him by hand.  
The disappointment must have shown on his face, because when his eyes moved to Harvey’s face he saw that the man was smiling.  
“You said you’d be here all day, I’ll assume that means dinner too?”  
Edward nodded gently, a tiny smile on his face.  
“We’ll make something special for you for dinner. Now we have 25 minutes till the pizza’s are ready. Anything to suggest?”  
Harvey moved gently to Edward’s side, cupping his hand to Edward’s arm, “We could just watch TV or…?”  
Edward chewed his lip for a second, feeling a slight heat rise in him as Harvey’s touch, “TV sounds good.”  
Harvey led Edward back through the hall, into the large living-room again, and the threw himself onto the largest of the three sofas there, “Wanna pick a seat?” he asked as he lifted his legs up onto the cushion, moving his head to rest it on the arm of the chair.  
Edward frowned gently; he wanted to sit _with_ Harvey, but Harvey seemed to have taken over that sofa.  
No matter: He wanted to sit with Harvey, so he would sit with Harvey.  
He perched himself in the gap on the sofa by Harvey’s feet. Harvey smiled widely, and ran one of his feet up Edward’s side, pulling him slightly closer. Edward smiled down at the larger man and slouched in his seat, running his hand gently up and down Harvey’s leg.  
Harvey had turned the TV on, however his eyes were focused on Edward alone, watching Edward as he watched TV.  
Edward hummed gently, still rubbing Harvey’s leg, only half-aware that he was doing it.  
He felt Harvey’s hand begin to slide up his arm, working round his back and pulling him to lie down, pressed against Harvey’s chest, Edward let out a tiny sigh. He could feel Harvey, so warm and loving as the man’s arm wrapped around him softly, thick fingers coming to a halt at Edward’s navel, the nails digging slightly into the soft skin.  
Edward felt excitement rise in his stomach as Harvey’s fingers came to rest only inches from Edward’s almost-flaccid penis.  
He exhaled gently and felt himself sink into Harvey’s torso, a soft comfort quickly coming to him, that odd feeling between awake and asleep, but tainted with longing and want.  
They lay for a few minutes, Edward feeling his mind calm itself for the first time in weeks, feeling Harvey’s protective warmth cover him.  
He felt so close to sleep.  
“…I think I’m falling in love with you…” Edward said gently.  
Harvey smiled, leaning in to nuzzle a kiss into Edward’s hair, taking a second to inhale the smell of lime and peach that always sat on Edward’s skin. “I think I love you too.”  
“I’m sorry I can’t… show it,” Edward whispered, pressing himself against the other man, feeling guilt rise in him.  
Harvey pulled him closer, resting his chin atop Edward’s head, Edward could feel the man’s Adam’s apple pressing to the back of his head. “I know why you can’t, and I know it’ll take a while for you to leave him, and I know it will take you a while after that to move on…”  
Harvey swallowed hard, Edward could feel the action against him, “But I love you Edward, I have done since… since we first started talking, really...”  
Edward felt his eyes begin to close, sleep was slowing taking him, and he wasn’t sure why, “…So you’ll wait for me…? To leave, to be ready…?”  
“Of course, Eddie.” Harvey placed another kiss on Edward’s head, “..Don’t make me wait too long though, man cannot survive on phone-sex alone.”  
Edward chuckled sleepily, “Harvey…” He lowered his hand to grasp Harvey’s, pushing it downwards slightly, brushing it against himself.  
Harvey moved his hand down Edward’s naval, letting the man push his fingers under the elastic of his boxers, Harvey’s heart beginning to quicken as Edward pushed the limb towards the bulge that was hidden there.  
Edward let out a light hum, his eyes still ebbing closed, “…Remember what we did last night?”  
“Vividly,” Harvey whispered gently, his hands ghosting the man’s base.  
Edward’s hum grew louder, “…That was nice.”  
Harvey groaned gently, feeling Edward thrust himself towards his hand, “Imagining us together while you touched yourself?”  
“…Yeah, it was nice…”  
Harvey could feel the man’s member hardening at the thought, he moaned gently, and continued gently brushing his hand against Edward, describing slowly the scene he had imagined the previous night.  
“My hand running over your body…” Edward groaned gently, “Holding your cock…” Edward thrust his hips forward, “Making you shudder…” Edward began gently grinding his backside against Harvey’s crotch, “Making you come.”  
“Yeah…” Edward gasped quietly, almost asleep. Harvey could feel him slipping, and he began to remove his hand.  
He sighed again, nuzzling into the man’s hair as he sank into sleep, “I love you.”


	12. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be the last bit of this that you get for a short while. I'll probably be writing the next bit in the background while I'm writing my other stories, but I'll try to stick to my new schedule for this month.  
> I might try to hurry it up if I get requests.  
> It may take a little time, but don't worry I promise you I'm not giving up on this story, I love it too much.

Harvey woke with a start to the harsh beep of the oven timer, sitting up sharply, almost knocking Edward off the sofa in the process.  
He was careful not to disturb Edward, who hadn’t woken despite the noise and being shoved, as he climbed from his place next to him and walked into the kitchen, pulling out the pizzas from the oven and cutting them into 8ths.   
He walked back into the living-room, holding the two plates of pizza in his hands. He placed them on the table, and gazed down at the still-sleeping man.  
Edward was so gorgeous. He had such a boyish face and such bright eyes. Such soft skin, in the right light he almost glowed.  
But he was being treated so badly, Harvey had lost count of the number of times he had seen those bright eyes dulled by Jon’s insults.  
“Edward,” he said gently, “Your food’s ready.”  
Edward’s head jumped up, inhaling so sharply it sounded almost like a scream. He looked around and ran a hand through his hair, unable, for a second, to remember where he was.  
“Oh, Harvey,” he said sleepily, the smile on his face widening, then flicking down to the plates of food. “Pizza?” he smiled, his voice cracking slightly.  
Harvey nodded as he took a seat next to Edward, he pointed to one of the plates, “That one’s yours.”  
Edward smirked, “Why that one?” he lifted his arms and wrapped them around Harvey’s neck, “Did you drug it?” he asked jokingly.  
Harvey shook his head, “If I had wanted to rape you I would have done while you were asleep.”  
Edward nodded thoughtfully, “True. I should be more careful where I fall asleep, I wouldn’t want anyone to _take advantage_.”  
He leaned forward and began to eat his pizza, moaning slightly at the new taste.  
Harvey ate his own pizza as they lounged on the sofa, TV playing quietly in the background, they weren’t really watching it, it was just noise to them. They were more focused on the pace of each other’s eating than anything else in their surroundings.  
There were, Harvey had decided, few things that turned him on more than watching Edward eat. He was kinda… dainty, in a odd almost clumsy way.  
Harvey was messy, so much so that he had tomato and cheese dribbling down his chin by the end of his first piece. It made Edward giggle. Maybe if he didn’t take such _large_ bites it wouldn’t happen.  
“What?” Harvey asked as he swallowed, looking down at Edward’s bright face.  
Edward held back another chuckle, “You got some on your chin.”  
Harvey let out a short ‘oh’, and wiped his mouth, “Better?” he said tilting his head slightly.  
Edward shook his head, chuckling again, “No, there’s still some there,” it was just under his lip… It gave Edward an idea. “Let me get it,” he lifted himself to his knees and put his hand to Harvey’s chin. He brought himself to Harvey’s lips, taking the lower into his mouth and sucking it gently, licking the tomato paste from under it.  
He felt Harvey quiver slightly, the man’s breath hitching a little, before he began to kiss back.  
Edward let out a gentle hum as Harvey’s hand ran over his back, running gently up his spine. Harvey felt Edward’s frame lift, moving over him, taking a soft seat on his lap as they deepened their kiss.  
Harvey felt his body growing hot, his cheeks on fire, Edward was initiating, but, surely he hadn’t ‘gotten over’ what had been troubling him… was Edward teasing him?  
Eventually their kiss slowed, their tongues dancing, tasting each other. Edward hummed gently, pulling his lips away, shuffling slightly where he sat on Harvey’s lap, making their crotches rub together gently, purposefully.  
Harvey let out a deep groan, his heart thumping loud in his head and his blood boiling. Edward let out a hummed giggle at the sight of Harvey’s red tinted face.  
“You’re so gorgeous…” Harvey said weakly, bringing a hand to cup Edward’s face, the other resting gently at the base of the man’s spine, caressing him lovingly.  
Edward blushed, and planted another kiss on Harvey’s lips, resting their foreheads together.  
Harvey sighed gently, a soft smile on his face, he moved the hand on Edward’s face, moving it to his hair, re-straightening the spikes of ginger hair that had been crushed by sleep.  
“You should eat your pizza before it gets cold…” Harvey said gently.  
Edward smirked and nodded gently, “I should,” he held his hands to Harvey’s chest, caressing him gently, “But why would I want to leave here?”  
“You wouldn’t.”  
Edward shook his head, smirk still hard on his face, “It’s warm and happy and perfect here… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so loved.”  
Harvey smiled back, his eyes narrowing slight , “That’s because you’ve not been.”  
“Harvey…?”  
“Yeah?”  
“You’re in love,” Edward whispered playfully, lifting a finger and tapping it to Harvey’s nose, “Is it a nice feeling?”  
Harvey nodded, lifting his head to kiss Edward’s finger, “You know it is… You feel the same, right?”  
Edward nodded frantically, “Yes, of course.”  
Edward swivelled on Harvey’s lap and flopped backwards, letting his head hit against the cushion of the sofa, he let out a deep sigh, “I wish I had met you earlier, before I’d met Jon, before I’d… If it had been you, all those years ago… Things would have been so much better.”  
Harvey nodded, “I know, but you can’t change what’s happened.”  
Edward sighed, “I know, but still I can’t help thinking… Where would we be…?”  
Harvey smiled and shrugged, “We’d… probably be married, living in a lovely two bedroom house, with a kid…”  
“A kid? With our lifestyle?”  
“I would’a gone straight. As soon as we decided to have kids.”  
Edward smiled gently; Harvey’s eyes had glazed slightly in thinking. He leaned over the table and took a slice of pizza, “What about me? Would I have gone straight?”  
Harvey shrugged, “I’d hope so, I wouldn’t force you though.”  
Edward smiled widely, pizza filling his mouth, “..See? Why couldn’t we have had that? A house and a dog and stuff?”  
“Dog?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m allergic, slightly.”  
“Oh yeah. Cat then?”  
Harvey nodded, “I like cats.”  
Edward smiled and nodded, remembering Harvey telling him about a cat he had owned when he was younger, called Almond…  
“Maybe we could call it Cashew…?” Edward noted, a dreamy smile on his face.  
Harvey chuckled, “…And we’d both get therapy and get ourselves sorted out.”  
Edward lifted his head, suddenly looking shocked, “Oh no! Harvey! They wouldn’t let us have a kid coz we’ve had mental health problems!”  
“…And we’re murderers too.”  
Edward pouted, “I am not!”  
“Yeah you are…”  
Edward shook his head stubbornly, “I have never killed anyone. I have ordered people to kill people, and I have made things that have killed people, but it’s their own fault for falling into the traps, and the people I ordered didn’t have to do it.”  
Harvey smirked, “I don’t think the courts would accept that.”  
“Well then, there goes the kid idea…”  
Harvey’s smile softened, “…Maybe if we’d met a few years earlier…?”  
Edward nodded, picking up more pizza, shoving it into his mouth, “…Maybe we’ll just have a cat.”  
“Named Cashew.”  
Edward smiled gently, nodding a little as he ate the last of his food, “Sounds like a good plan don’t you think?”


	13. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had that first bit sitting in my head for like, a week... I dunno why but it just wouldn't leave...

Harvey and Edward sat on the sofa together, having eaten their pizzas, watching an old film.  
Edward had his legs swung over Harvey’s lap, Harvey’s hand was outstretched, rubbing the smaller man’s feet. Edward kept twitching, letting out tiny giggles whenever Harvey moved his hand.  
Harvey looked over from the tv, “I can stop?” he said as Edward let out another gentle titter.  
“No, it’s nice, I‘m just ticklish,” Edward replied, his face slightly red.  
“Oh?” Harvey said, lifting an eyebrow, “Is that true?”  
Edward quickly retracted his legs, huddling into a ball and outstretching his finger, waggling it gently, “No, Harvey, don’t you dare,” he said with a squeak.  
Harvey smiled gently, “Aw, why not?”  
Edward buried his head into his knees, shrugging, blushing deeply.  
“Come on, why?” Harvey asked again, reaching out a finger and running it up Edward’s leg, from his toe to mid way up his shin.  
Edward’s frame shrunk more, and he shook his head, squirming gently and smiling widely as Harvey’s hand continued up his leg.  
“I might just tickle you until you tell me,” Harvey said, his hand moving up Edward’s thigh, moving towards his stomach.  
“No, Harvey, don’t,” Edward said, his eyes fixed on Harvey’s finger, “If I laugh too hard then I’ll snort and it sounds really weird, Harvey, please!”  
Harvey held his finger still, pouting slightly, “Hmm,” he looked down at the finger, “I don’t think that’s a good enough reason…”  
His finger resumed it’s course towards Edward’s belly, the man starting to twitch and squeak at the touch.  
“I mean, that’s got to be cute, right?” Harvey said, his finger moving over Edward’s hip.  
Edward squeaked loudly, “Harvey!” he whined, squinting his eyes.  
Harvey’s hand reached Edward’s belly button, and Edward let out a loud, happy yelp, beginning to laugh as Harvey twitched his fingers over the man’s stomach.  
“No, Harvey, stop!” Edward squealed, laughing loudly, beginning to writhe and jerk, “Stop!”  
Harvey raised himself to his knees on the sofa, pulling Edward towards him,  and continuing tickling him, “Not until I’ve heard you snort.”  
Edward let himself fall into a fit of giggles, his back arching slightly and his limbs twitching madly, laughter pouring from him. He looked up at Harvey, seeing the pure joy in his eyes as his hands moved over Edward’s body, making him laugh louder.  
Edward had tears beading down his face, his breath hitching gently as Harvey leant over him. He suddenly inhaled, letting out a gentle snort of laughter, clasping his hand to his mouth, as he did, his eyes wide.  
Harvey smiled softly and leant over Edward’s frame, lifting his hand to the ginger man’s head and bringing their lips together.  
Edward smiled into their kiss, lifting his own hand to the back of Harvey’s head, lifting his legs and wrapping them around the man’s waist, his hips rising from the sofa with the action.  
Harvey moaned gently, hooking his arm around Edward’s hip and lifting the man from the sofa, so they were both upright, kneeling.  
Edward hummed and broke their kiss, instead turning his head, and nuzzling into Harvey’s neck, inhaling gently, “…Cute?”  
Harvey nodded, nuzzling a gentle kiss into Edward’s ginger hair, “Very cute.”  
Edward lifted his head from Harvey’s chest, looking at the tv as the credits of the film started, “Oh,” he said, still smiling, “We missed the end.”  
“Want me to rewind it?” Harvey asked; it was his fault Edward had missed it after all.  
Edward shook his head, “Nah, I have the DVD. I’ve seen it hundreds of times before.”  
“Oh,” Harvey smirked, “Then why did you want to watch it now?”  
“Coz…” Edward shrugged, “I dunno, there’s something about watching it on tv.”  
“What do you mean?”  
Edward shrugged again, humming gently as he thought of his answer, “I dunno. There’s just something about it.”  
Harvey narrowed his eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly, “…You’re weird.”  
Edward chuckled, “Yeah, but I’m _cute_.”  
Harvey smirked at the slight indignant tone in Edward’s voice, “You don’t mind being called cute, do you?”  
Edward shrugged, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards slightly, “Seems a bit, kinda… cute.”  
Harvey laughed gently, lifting a hand and running it through Edward’s hair, “So what, you think you’re a big manly-man or something…?”  
Edward cocked his head, “Well… no, but…”  
“You snort when you laugh, Eddie. There isn’t anything cuter.”  
Edward scoffed, “Shut up, I’m sure there is.”  
“A puppy eating pink marshmallows?”  
“Exactly!”  
Harvey chuckled, “Well, I still think you’re cute.”  
Edward squeezed his arms around Harvey’s chest, humming lightly, “Not as cute as a puppy eating pink marshmallows though, right?”  
Harvey hugged him back, letting out a gentle ‘uh-huh’. He turned his head to the clock that hung on the wall, “Hey, it’s almost 5.”  
“Already?”  
That had gone so quick. But, it made sense; the last time he had looked at the clock it had been just past 2, and they had watched an entire film since then.  
“Yeah… How about we make that food now then?” Harvey asked with a smile.  
Edward nodded, and watched Harvey get to his feet, the man held out his hand to pull Edward to his feet.  
The smaller man skipped ahead, walking into the kitchen, pulling Harvey behind him. “What are we gunna cook?” Edward said happily, beaming sweetly.  
Harvey opened the large metal fridge, looking through the uncooked foods that currently lived there. “…Chicken fajitas?” he said hopefully; they were his favourite and he’d not had any for at least a week and a half.  
Edward nodded, “Yeah, sure. I’ve not had them in ages.”  
Harvey frowned “ I thought you said you had them a few nights ago?”  
“That was enchiladas,” Edward said with a gentle shake of his head, “Never again.”  
“Oh? Didn’t like them?” Harvey asked, taking a few breasts of chicken from the fridge and placed them on the counter, “-Grab that knife for me, please,” he said as he gestured towards a single knife that sat in the person-shaped knife-block.  
Edward grabbed it, chuckling at the knife-block, and handed it to the older man, “Not really, but I mean… I think I was having a bad day when I had them so now I’m not really… yeah.”  
Harvey took Edward’s hand, holding the knife with him, he began to slice the chicken, knotting his fingers with Edward’s as he did. “What happened…?” he asked softly.  
Edward shrugged, smiling as Harvey’s hand guided his, “Just… Jon, you know.” He felt Harvey’s hand tighten slightly around his; annoyance that Jon could darken Edward’s mood so easily and so largely. Harvey scooped the chicken into one of the frying pans, along with some oil and a teaspoon of water.  
Edward leant against the black granite, watching Harvey fiddle with the stove, “I’m ok though, Harvey.”  
Harvey gave Edward a large, half-faked, smile, “I know.” He shook the chicken in the pan, coating it with oil, making it hiss, “Um, can you get me the salt and the little red packet from the little cupboard?” he pointed to one of the cupboards, Edward scuttled over to pull it open, taking the two ingredients and handing them to Harvey.  
Something happened in the pass-over, and they ended up holding hands as Harvey poured the red liquid and salt over the chicken. Harvey found Edward snaking round him, the man’s arms gently slipping around his hips, his own arm gently circling down Edward’s body and his chin finding a place amongst Edward’s ginger hair.  
They held each other as the chicken spat and hissed at the cooker’s heat, Harvey hummed gently, stirring the red-tinted chicken. Edward found his eyes slipping closed again, but not to sleep, just to enjoy the sound and smell of the older man, enjoying the happiness that seemed to shine from him.


	14. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, the sex embago is over... However... it is between Eddie and Jon... so ">.> sorry V...

Just as they finished their food, Edward’s phone began to ring. Harvey’s heart sank as the noise rang over their conversation.  
It was funny that Jon could interrupt them even when he wasn’t present… yet again.  
Edward sighed gently, and picked up the phone, “Hey, Jon…” he cooed, there was an obvious change in his tone, it seemed suddenly darker and… faked.  
Harvey sat silently as he listened to the conversation.  
“ _Where are you? I came home early, I bought food and everything, where are you?_ ” Jon said impatiently.  
Edward shifted, swallowing hard, “I just popped out for some milk, babe…”  
A loud sigh came down the phone, “ _Sure… Get home quick before your food gets cold._ ”  
“Yeah, of course, sweety… I’ll be uh… like 15 minutes?”  
“ _Yeah, fine, love you._ ”  
Edward closed his eyes, taking in a tiny juddered breath, “Love you too…” he said gently, a slight strain in his voice, holding the phone to his ear for a few seconds after Jon hung up the phone.  
The smaller man’s face slumped, showing no real expression, “I have to go,” he said mechanically, beginning to walk to the door.  
Harvey got to his feet, taking Edward by the hand and pulling him close, “I love you,” he whispered into the man’s ear.  
He felt the man clasp to him, and felt him shake slightly as he exhaled, nuzzling into Harvey’s collar, “I love you…” Harvey heard him whisper.  
Edward shook in Harvey’s arms, letting out almost-sobs. He had been hoping that he could just… leave, not have to face that look Harvey always gave him, the one filled with such disappointment, such longing…  
“I’m sorry, I have to go, I’m sorry,” Edward said silently, savouring the last few seconds he would have with the other man.  
The larger man leant in and gave the smaller a soft kiss, holding his hand to Edward’s face as he did.  
Harvey sighed, “It’s ok. Now stop, Jon will be able to tell if you start crying.”  
Edward nodded, pulling himself away. Sure Jon would be able to tell, but he wouldn’t ask why, he wouldn’t care why.  
Harvey smiled faintly, “I’ll text you soon though, ok?”  
Edward nodded, he put his shoes on, and opened the door, Harvey watching as the man left, closing the door softly once he was out of sight.  
Edward picked up some milk and headed back to his house. It didn’t really feel like ‘his house’ it never had, less than half of the things in it were his, and there was this air of tension, all the time, heavy in the air.  
He heard an unusually happy chorus of ‘Hey!’ from his boyfriend as he entered the house.  
He squinted through the darkness; the room, for some reason, was lit by a single candle.  
Was the power out? He knew they had more than one candle, and he knew they had lantern torches as well.  
He screwed up his eyes and inhaled deeply as he remembered.  
Today was the 19th of October.  
It was their anniversary.  
“I… I didn’t get you anything…” he said quietly into the darkness.  
“Oh what?” Jon said dispiritedly, “I thought ‘getting milk’ was some clever euphemism… I was expecting… I dunno… flowers, chocolate… maybe a new _toy_.”  
Edward took a few steps into the room, looking to the source of light on the coffee table, illuminating a bunch of flowers, handsomely tied with some thick string, a open and half eaten box of chocolates, and… a rather long object that Edward could only think of _one_ use for.  
“Jon…” he said with a smile, picking one of the chocolates from the table and popping it into his mouth, humming gently as he realised it was filled with strawberry cream.  
The room’s main light flashed on, and Edward saw Jon standing in the doorframe, Edward gave him a wide smile, Jon smiled back, “You forgot didn’t you?” Jon asked.  
Edward gave a small shrug and a nod, “A bit, I’m sorry.”  
Jon shrugged, “it’s ok, I’m sure I’ll think of a way you can repay me.”  
Edward blushed and chuckled.  
“Now, I bought thai food, come on,” Jon smirked, leading Edward into the small kitchen. Edward held back a frown; Jon knew Edward hated thai food…  
Edward sighed, eating his food despite the headache it would cause him.  
Jon smirked, “…I think I have thought of something.”  
“What?” Edward asked, trying to sound happy, but knowing that the ‘something’ would not be a good ‘something’.  
Jon got to his feet and walked into the living-room, returning a few seconds later with the long rod that had lay on the coffee table. “Guess…” Jon said with a slight lust to his voice.  
Edward let out a hum, smiling to himself, “You want me to turn it into a catfish?”  
Jon scoffed at this typical display, “…I want you… to lay on the sofa… and see how far you can stick this up yourself.”  
“Jon…” Edward half whined, blush beginning to grow in his cheeks.  
Jon handed him the object, pulling him from his seat, into the living-room, “Come on… you owe me a present, and I can think of nothing better.”  
“Do I have to..?” Edward asked as he lay himself on the sofa, simply watching as his trousers were removed from him.  
“Yes, you do,” Jon said, a little more harshly now.  
Jon took the long object from Edward, taking it in his own mouth and coating it with his own saliva. He handed the rod back to the smaller man. “…Now, think of something good…”  
“Jon…” Edward moaned again, his mind darting immediately to Harvey.  
“Good Eddie, go on..”  
Edward felt Jon move his hand, the object firm in his own grip, down to his tight hole. He felt Jon’s hand take a grip on his limp member, beginning to pump it as the hard object rubbed against him.  
Harvey, Edward’s mind affixed on him, his skin, his lips, his eyes…  
His touch…  
The object began to enter him, and Edward felt Jon’s hand move from it, still pumping the smaller man as his length began to harden and throb.  
He hissed, biting his lip and gasping as the object plunged into him at his own hand, the scent of Harvey still fresh in his nostrils, the taste of his lips still fresh, the feel of the half-burned skin.  
Jon hummed, the noise forcing Edward’s eyes to shoot open. “I can feel that you like that…”  
Edward nodded, his mind still on Harvey, how caring he had been, how close they had come to falling to each other. How good it had felt to have him touch him, how good it had felt to kiss him.  
“Go deeper,” Jon growled, Edward moved his eyes to see that Jon was fondling both Edward and himself. Edward closed his eyes, tipping his head and arching his back as he pushed the object deeper.  
It could be Harvey, he could pretend it was…  
The object rubbed against Edward’s prostate, Edward gasping as it did. He twisted the rod in his hand, rubbing it furiously against the rough spot inside him, “Oh… fuck… yes…”  
Jon was gasping and moaning, caressing himself as Edward began to moan deeply, screaming almost as he rammed the object into himself.  
Edward felt a tug as the log rod was pulled from him, he let out a groan as Jon’s member filled the empty hole.  
“Yes, oh fuck, yes,” Edward said, his eyes still closed, his mind still on Harvey, still imagining it was him, cursing inwardly every time Jon let out a grunt loud enough to pull him away from the illusion.  
Jon grunted and growled as he forced himself into Edward’s entrance, hammering into him, lifting his legs and pushing deep, making him scream.  
Edward’s thoughts stayed pinned on Harvey as Jon lifted the legs of the smaller man over his shoulder.  
“Yes I-I, ” Edward began to screech in pleasure, heat quickly growing in him as he tried not to think of the man pounding into him, thinking instead of Harvey’s hands caressing his body, his hot breath on him.  
Edward moved his hand to his own length, taking over the action while Jon moved his own hand to grip on Edward’s shoulder, allowing him to go deeper, to make Edward’s screams louder.  
Edward dug his nails into the material of the sofa, he was already at his edge, so quick? Edward didn’t care to think why, he kept his mind on Harvey, biting on his lip to stop himself screaming the name.  
Jon dug his nails into Edward’s shoulder, feeling the smaller man twitching around him, “Ah, you’re close, I can f-feel it…”  
Edward nodded weakly, the jerking feeling in his body growing more violent, he heard Jon begin to moan and growl.  
Edward felt his body convulse and felt the flood of pleasure fill him, he let his mouth flop open, letting out an almost inaudible whisper, “H-Harvey…”  
Jon looked down at him, watching the man’s orgasm ebb out, letting himself explode into the smaller man, moaning loudly as he did.  
Edward gasped to himself, only watching as Jon pulled away, getting to his feet.  
“Dress yourself,” Jon said as he peeled himself away.  
Edward nodded, pulling his trousers towards him, panting gently, fear filling him as he realised what he’d said. But Jon didn’t seem to had heard.  
Edward felt terrible, this was too much, he was a terrible person.  
Edward felt a lump of vomit form in his throat, he swallowed hard, but it wouldn’t go down.  
He got to his feet and walked quickly to the bathroom, his stomach emptying itself of the thai food he had eaten only 20 minutes before.  
He sobbed into the toilet bowl, leaning over the clean white porcelain.  
He closed his eyes, his insides throbbing.  
He shouldn’t have done that.  
Why did he do that?  
He had said Harvey’s name, he had his mind solely on Harvey. The whole time, he hadn’t thought of Jon once. He hadn’t thought of how… pleasurable it was for the other man.  
He had never done that before… not to that extent.  
He didn’t want… He didn’t want to have sex with Jon anymore, it felt so wrong…  
His mind wouldn’t move from Harvey, even now, he was still there.  
He sat on the floor, his legs crossed, he wiped his eyes.  
He heard a small cough from the doorframe, turning his head to see Jon. “I didn’t think I was _that_ bad at sex.”  
“No, I-… It was good, I just…” Edward let his head lull through shame.  
“Maybe you just need a good rest. Go to bed.”  
Edward shook his head, “No, I’m fine… I just feel a bit off.”  
“If you feel off then you are not fine.”  
Edward nodded.  
They both stayed silent for a few seconds, then Jon sighed and left the room, closing the door gently, leaving Edward on the tiled floor.  
Maybe Jon _had_ heard him… Maybe he was expecting an explanation, and that’s why he’d come in.  
Edward couldn’t do it, he had wanted to. But he couldn’t break Jon’s heart like that, after all he’d done for him.  
“Edward?” Jon shouted from the living-room.  
“Yes?” Edward shouted back, his voice scratchy and low.  
“I bought strawberry ice-cream.”  
Edward leant back against the wall, letting out a gentle sob, bringing his knees to his chest nuzzling his head into his arms.  
He still didn’t know what to do.


	15. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short-arse chapter this is... but whatever.  
> Oh V, looks like you're going to get some of your beloved sex within the next chapter or two! REJOICE!

Jon sat on the sofa, cursing to himself.  
He was sure that was what he’d said, he didn’t want to believe it, but he was sure he’d heard correctly.  
Edward had been acting a little weird lately, a little rebellious. That was why he’d been so nice tonight; the chocolates, the flowers, the ice-cream.  
No, it couldn’t be, Edward would never cheat on him, never, he loved Jon more than anything.  
He looked over at his boyfriend, who had fallen asleep on his chair, he sighed, no, Edward didn’t have the guts to do something like that, not right under his nose.  
“Silly kid…” Jon whispered, the tiny noise making Edward jump up, as if from a nightmare.  
“No! Don’t kill him!” Edward screeched, panting, he lifted a hand to wipe away the small beads of sweat that lay there.  
“Don’t kill whom?” Jon asked.  
“Uh..I…” Edward said, not wanting to reveal the terribly graphic ‘Jon kills Harvey’ dream he had been having “I don’t remember… It was scary…”  
Jon smirked gently, letting out an almost-happy sigh, “Sounds like you need a good nights sleep little Ed…”  
Edward yawned, nodding, “Are you gunna join me?”  
Jon shook his head, “No, there’s a good programme on.”  
Edward nodded again “K,” he got to his feet, running his fingers through his hair, smoothing down the flick of hair at the back of his head, which of course popped back up a second later.  
Edward sat on the bed and pulled his phone from his trousers. Another text from Harvey… he could text back before he went to sleep, it couldn’t hurt.  
 _Harvey: Have a good day?_  
Edward sighed, beginning to undress himself.  
 _It was good until I got home._  
He pulled on his green pyjamas, folded his clothes and put them in the draws.  
 _Harvey: …What did he do._  
 _I had sex with him earlier. I couldn’t stop thinking of you and I feel really guilty._  
He paused before sending the message, wondering if it was a good idea to tell Harvey something like that.  
He shouldn’t keep this hidden, he had to tell _someone_ and who else could he tell? He sent it, sighing away his anxiousness as he did.  
He lay on his bed, pulling the thinnest of their two blankets over himself.  
 _Harvey:…What was I doing? ;3_  
Edward smiled; Harvey was obviously trying to lighten the mood.  
 _Oh… kissing me, touching me, you know, just stuff._  
Edward smirked to himself, feeling his mood lighten.  
 _Harvey: Oh well I’m sure that was fun._  
Edward’s smirk grew into a full smile.  
 _Yeah, would’a been better if it had been your cock in me though…_  
He lay in bed, staring at the blinding light of the screen, waiting for the soft buzz of elation that came with every text.  
 _Harvey: Well the quicker you break up with him, the quicker it can be._  
Edward sighed, thinking to himself.  
He… he had to think of himself. He could feel a weight on him that he didn’t like, one that only lessened when he was with Harvey… he could only imagine how much it would lessen if he were actually _with_ him.  
 _…I don’t know if I can wait that long…_  
I was clear that he couldn’t break up with Jon ‘just like that’, no, he needed to distance himself first, he couldn’t let Jon think he were still happy, he needed to make it clear… but… gently.  
 _Harvey: What do you mean by that?_  
Edward exhaled… he needed to get out of here, to start a new life… there was nothing wrong with his old life and his new one overlapping slightly.  
 _Can I come over again, tomorrow?_  
Edward yawned gently, it was… almost half past 2. He couldn’t think why Harvey would still be up.  
Other than to talk to him.  
 _Harvey: I’m free all day._  
The ginger haired man smiled, feeling his eyes start to lull closed again.  
 _Yeah, I’ll be over as early as I can. Night. <3_  
Edward closed his eyes, fully ready to sleep, waking a second later to the glow of his phone.  
 _Harvey: Ok. Love you <3_  
 _Love you too_  
He pushed his phone safely under his pillow, and let himself fall to sleep, the noise of Jon’s programme infecting his dreams.


	16. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg can you guess what comes next??!

Edward smiled at Jon as he hopped down the stairs the next morning.  
“You look nice,” Jon said, watching as Edward took two bowls from the cupboard, pouring cereal and milk into them and handing one to Jon.  
The man replied only with a nod. Jon smiled, beginning to eat his food, “You got plans or something?”  
Edward nodded, sitting himself opposite Jon, “Going to see Twoface. Get that box of solder he promised me.”  
Jon huffed, “You sure are dressed nice considering you’re gunna see a man who looks like half his face’s covered in shit…”  
Edward frowned, feeling an unneeded amount of anger fall on him at the comment, “I know you don’t like him, but that’s no reason to be rude. He’s giving me something I need for free.”  
Jon shook his head gently, rolling his eyes, “Yeah sure…” He quickly finished his food and got to his feet, “I’ve got a big meeting today, I might be back late.”  
“Oh, ok, are you leaving already?” Edward said, watching from his chair as Jon walked through the house.  
“I just need a shower, then I’ll go.”  
“Really? But… It’s only 8, I thought the meeting wasn’t till 10?”  
Jon began to walk up the stairs, to the bathroom, “Yeah, ‘big meeting’, the more prep I can get in the better.”  
Edward finished his food, listening to the noise of the shower.  
He pulled out his phone, checking if he had any texts from Harvey.  
It was odd, he thought, that only the previous morning he had felt so nervous, so unsure if he should take his relationship with Harvey to ‘the next level’…  
It had taken a day with Harvey and a night with Jon to make him realise what was best for him.  
And he had to think of what was best for him, like Harvey had said, repeatedly.  
Even so, as he heard Jon getting out of the shower, whistling some unknown tune, he couldn’t help feeling bad.  
The fact still stood; he had been with Jon for so long… they shared so much. It would be so hard to tell him that things between them were over. And it would take so long for Edward to adjust to life without him…  
He sighed, looking at Harvey’s name on the screen of his phone. Even just seeing the man’s name made him happier.  
Why had it taken him so long to realise?  
Jon descended the stairs, naked, rubbing his hair with a towel, Edward watched him as the man took his clothes from the washer/drier, and started to dress himself.  
Edward sighed, looking back down at his phone. The sight of Harvey’s printed name made him feel better than the sight of his naked boyfriend…  
That about proved it to him…  
“Right…” Jon said to himself, dragging a brush through his partially dried hair, “I’m off now babe…”  
Edward hopped to his feet, following Jon to the door, and watching the man put on his shoes “Oh, ok, Jon, I’ll see you tonight yeah?”  
“Yeah…” Jon said, giving Edward a soft kiss before he left.  
Edward sighed softly to himself, walking back across the house, up the stairs, into the bathroom.  
He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked tired, he had bags under his eyes.  
He found some concealer and covered them up, he was not going to meet up with Harvey while looking like _that_ …  
He dressed himself, and was out the door within 15 minutes.  
.  
Edward squeaked happily as he pushed the buzzer to Harvey’s apartment, “Harvey, come on… answer me.”  
After a few seconds the buzzing stopped, and a growl rang down the line “What…?”  
“Hey, Harvey, it’s me I got here early.”  
“…It’s half past 8, I thought you said Jon didn’t leave until 10.”  
Edward smiled to himself, “Just let me in, it’s cold!”  
“I’m not dressed, the place is a mess, I only just woke up.”  
Edward rolled his eyes, “Excuses, excuses…”  
Harvey sighed, “Fine. But you won’t like what you see.”  
“Oh…” Edward said, adding lust to his tone, “I’m sure I will…”  
The door buzzed open and Edward quickly walked through, up the flight of stairs, seeing Harvey standing at the door, wearing only a white T-shirt and some pale blue boxers.  
He flung his arms around the taller man’s neck and pushed their lips together, opening his mouth slightly and letting Harvey’s tongue work its way in.  
They hummed gently as they kisses, their hands working over each other’s bodies. Harvey’s mouth tasted of sleep, and his skin had a slight slick of sweat over it.   
It felt so perfect.  
He was so perfect.  
Edward clung to him, groping under the fabric, at the soft and burned skin, wanting to feel every inch of him.  
Harvey was the one who broke their kiss, “Edward… Hi.”  
Edward smiled, his face red and his insides hot, “Hi.”  
“I’m cooking, bacon and eggs. Want some?” the taller man asked, smiling gently, his voice soft and breathy.  
Edward nodded, his hand taking Harvey’s, letting the man lead him through the apartment and into the kitchen.  
Harvey smiled at the smaller man, “If we’re going to have today together, we’re going to do it right…”  
“Right?”  
“Yes.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean let me get dressed and brush my teeth. Your first time with me will not be with me looking like this.”  
“You’re going to get undressed anyway…”  
Harvey sighed, plating up some food for himself and his soon-to-be ‘lover’. “That’s not the point. It’s like food; you enjoy it more if it’s presented better.”  
Edward looked down at the plate of food, he smiled, “So I’m just some food you want to devour…?”  
Harvey frowned, sitting opposite Edward and beginning to eat. “I’m not like that.”  
“I was joking.”  
“Well it was a bad joke…” Harvey sighed, “I’m not like him… I care for you more than anything, it’s all I’ve wanted for months, you know that.”  
“You just want it to be right?” Edward said with a nod, “I understand, I’m sorry.”  
Harvey smiled gently, reaching his hand across the table to take Edward’s.  
They continued eating as their hands played with each other, fingers twisting together, nails scraping gently across the skin.  
It was odd, Edward thought, but it felt almost like a form of foreplay. He could feel that familiar warmth growing in his lower stomach, he even let out a tiny moan when Harvey’s nail scraped against his skin a little too hard.  
Edward, finishing his plate, leant back in his chair, keeping his hand in contact with Harvey’s. He watched the man finish his food.  
He felt rather full; he’d eaten two breakfasts. He licked his lips, Harvey noticed him, letting out a small hum and smiling gently.  
Harvey got to his feet, pulling Edward to his feet with their entwined hands, giving him a soft kiss, “I’m going to have a shower,” he said, reluctantly letting go of the man’s hand, “…No peeking,” he added, “Go into the living room, put something good on. Something _you_ think is good.”  
Edward smiled, watching as Harvey walked towards the bathroom, and he himself trotted into the living-room, flopping himself onto the comfy sofa, and taking the remote from its place on the side-table.  
He smiled when he heard the shower turn on; he knew Harvey was naked in the other room, he knew if he were to walk down that hall, open the door, then he would see Harvey, naked.  
… But he chose not to, he chose to sit in the living-room, watching tv, respecting Harvey’s personal wishes, Harvey’s personal space.  
He should feel proud of himself.  
He wanted it so badly.  
To do something that would feel good.  
To do something that would feel right.  
Natural.  
…Did that mean that being with Jon had felt unnatural?  
Thinking back, it did.  
It felt… he had felt detached.  
Like it wasn’t really him. It was happening to him, but it didn’t effect him.  
Edward shook his head, he had to get away from Jon.  
He couldn’t stay with him.


	17. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Harvey and Eddie finally have sex!!  
> YAY!

Harvey entered the living-room a short time later, wearing his bi-coloured suit, his hair swept back, he stood at the end of the sofa, smiling down at the man who lay on it.  
“Hey,” the taller man said.  
Edward sat himself up, smiling widely, looking over the larger man, the sheer perfection presented before him.  
“…You look gorgeous,” Edward sighed, reaching out a hand to take Harvey’s.  
Harvey pulled him up, making Edward squeak in surprise, pulling him close and pressing the smaller man into his chest.  
Edward exhaled, feeling Harvey’s arms engulf him, and knowing, this time, he was doing the right thing.  
His heart was already in his throat, already beating hard and fast.  
He felt an instant heat fall on him as Harvey pressed a kiss to his lips, letting out a deep moan as they quickly fell into a passionate mesh, their tongues dancing around each other.  
It felt so synchronised, so perfect, so normal.  
It felt like Harvey knew what Edward’s next move would be. He knew that his tongue would move left, right, that his hands would move to his waist and dig into the material of his suit.  
Harvey unbuttoned Edward’s shirt, Edward doing the same to Harvey, letting the clothes fall uselessly to the floor.  
Harvey pushed Edward back for a second, undoing the man’s belt and tugging down his trousers, then doing the same to himself.  
Edward stood back slightly, now naked, blushing slightly. His mouth hung slightly agape as he looked at the taller man.  
“What?” Harvey asked, frowning gently, “Too much? We can stop if-“  
“You look so… I’ve never…”  
Edward could feel his heart in his throat, stopping his words leaving him, making his head spin with lust.  
“Edward…?” Harvey said gently, taking a step forward.  
Edward smiled, closing the gap between them, lifting a hand to Harvey’s face and pulling the man’s lips to his, giving him a soft kiss, “I love you.”  
Harvey lifted a hand, running it through the ginger hair, meshing their mouths together again, the same synchronised movement, their hands running over each other’s skin, feeling the gentle shiver that came as their fingers ran over sensitive areas, Edward smiled as he discovered that pressing on Harvey’s third vertebrae caused him to moan.  
Their hands slowly moved across the opposing chest and stomach, reaching their groins. Harvey gasped into Edward’s mouth as the man grasped his length.  
Edward began moving his hand gently along Harvey’s member, Harvey lowered his hand and did the same, Edward bit down slightly on Harvey’s lip, making the man groan and his grip tighten.  
Harvey wrapped his arm around Edward’s waist, pulling him close, moving with him, pulling him into the bedroom, trying to keep the man as close as possible, keeping his grip light on Edward’s length, moving his hand gently, feeling the soft skin against his own.  
Edward sat himself on the bed, keeping his lips locked with Harvey’s, their hands tracing each other’s bodies and their tongues dancing in each other’s mouths.  
Edward broke their kiss, looking into the pale blue eyes, his head fuzzy with longing, “I want you… so badly… I-“  
Harvey brought him into a kiss, pushing the smaller back onto the bed, groping madly at him. He reached over to the bedside table and pulled a bottle of lube from the draw, feeling blindly for it as he kept the kiss going.  
Edward moaned gently, digging his nails slightly into Harvey’s skin as the man poured the slick liquid onto his fingers and rubbed then over the smaller man’s hole, letting Edward smear some over Harvey’s hardened length.  
“Ready?” Harvey breathed, positioning himself and rubbing his tip gently across the tight hole.  
Edward nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, yes,” he broke their mouth’s dance only to say the words, returning hungrily a second later.  
Harvey began to press into him, feeling the smaller man’s body begin to give in to him, Edward juddered slightly and moaned, hissing into Harvey’s open mouth as they shared their breath.  
Edward’s hand slid to his hole, feeling as Harvey pressed into him, running his finger along the half that was not yet inside him, “Oh fuck…. Harvey…” He moved his hand to his own member and stroked it feverishly, gripping tightly as the larger man continued to push into him.  
Harvey gasped to himself, letting Edward’s spare hand run roughly through the bi-coloured hair, doing the same in return. He pushed gently into the smaller man, till he reached his base, Edward lay beneath him, panting and moaning, his mouth moving like he was trying to speak but the words wouldn’t form so they came as growled moans.  
Harvey pulled out slightly, beginning to thrust gently, Edward’s panted noises becoming louder and more jolted as Harvey moved over him.  
Edward could feel elation flooding his mind, hot waves infecting him, spreading through him with each soft movement the other man made.  
“H-Harvey… this feels so g-good,” he said in a whisper, feeling Harvey move inside him, searching for his most sensitive spot, knowing he had found it when a strangled moan erupted from the smaller man.  
He broke their kiss as Harvey’s movements began to increase in speed, pounding quickly into the prostate of the ginger haired man, making him scream out.  
He had never had someone so intently focused on him before, Harvey seemed determined to make him scream with pleasure, make stars dance in his eyes, make his face turn red.  
The older man watched with pleasure filled eyes as Edward jerked and twitched beneath him, writhing helplessly, the body moving suddenly with every sharp movement.  
Edward’s face shone with the sweat of ecstasy as he felt tension grow inside him, panting hard, he felt himself swelling, his breath growing short.  
Harvey’s grunts and groans became fuzzy in Edward’s head, melding with the buzzing pleasure that filled him.  
“Yes… Eddie… come on…” Harvey growled, feeling the man twitching around him, listening to the short gasps, feeling the man’s fingers spasming in his hair.  
Edward inhaled sharply, “Oh I’m going to-“  
“Yes!”  
“Oh fuck, yes,” Edward screamed loudly, his head jerking forward and his breathing juddering as his body convulsed, he gasped as his orgasm left him, the flood of enjoyment washing through his head.  
Harvey moaned, feeling Edward’s insides quiver around his throbbing length, pulling him deeper into swells of pleasure, pulling him almost to his edge.  
Edward grasped Harvey’s hips and moved himself, pushing and pulling himself along Harvey’s member, aiding the other man’s movements, the man’s eyes growing wide and his noises becoming deeper.  
Edward could feel Harvey twitching gently inside him, rubbing hard against the spot inside him, making him jerk with sickening pleasure, making his vision blur more, he could hardly focus, his head was spinning and he didn’t want it to stop.  
They yelled out synchronously as Harvey felt a final jerk run through his groin and Edward felt the man’s warm cream fill him.  
Harvey held himself over the smaller man, panting, watching as the fuzz disappeared from Edward’s eyes, and the green orbs simply stared up at him.  
Harvey had never seen such happiness in one look.  
Edward lifted his hand and ran it through Harvey’s hair again, smoothing it back down. He was so handsome, so loving, so perfect.  
He felt a small wave of sadness run through him; he’d wasted so much time. If he’d paid more attention to Harvey when they had first met, if he’d had the courage to split up with Jon when things had first started to feel wrong, rather than waiting and hoping they would get better…  
Harvey frowned, for that second it was as if he could read Edward’s mind, “You know it’s better this way.”  
The ginger haired man let out a soft sigh, “I don’t see how.”  
“You think average is good because you’re used to sub-par…”  
Edward smirked, was Harvey always this full of himself after sex?  
…He liked it, it was a nice change from Jon’s snoring…  
Harvey began to lift himself away from the smaller man, stopping for a second to give him a gentle kiss, he placed himself on the bed, letting Edward nuzzle against him, inhaling deeply, his head filling with the man’s scent.  
“That was better than average,” Edward said gently, clinging softly to the man’s side, tracing his fingers over the man’s chest.  
“Let’s try to make it last longer next time though,” Harvey smirked, shifting himself slightly and kissing Edward’s forehead.  
Edward smiled, closing his eyes, he focused on Harvey’s speeding heart, growing softer, calmer, and once again, he couldn’t help drifting off to sleep, safe in Harvey’s embrace.


	18. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> N'aww, silly boyos.  
>  **Finally!** It took me a week and a half to write this! I just couldn't get into a creative mood... pissed me off...

“And then he’d tell me he loved me… I-I never understood why he did it,” Edward mumbled into Harvey’s chest, holding him tight.  
Harvey ran his hand over Edward’s naked back, stopping at the base of the man’s spine, “That sounds… Uh…”  
Edward smirked, “You don’t know how to react to that do you?”  
Harvey shook his head, “You know… I’m awful at things like this, I’m sorry.”  
Edward chuckled, “It’s ok. It’s nice actually…” he took Harvey’s hand, playing with the man’s fingers, “When I talk to Jon about it, he goes off on rants about what it means and how it has or could have affected me… It’s nice to just have someone who listens.”  
“I’m better at just listening,” Harvey said quietly, watching Edward play with his hand. The smaller man hummed and smiled, focusing completely on the burned hand.  
Harvey flinched slightly as Edward played with the skin, Edward felt the action, and his eyes flicked up to Harvey’s face, “Did I hurt you?”  
Harvey smiled and shook his head, “No, it’s just sensitive.”  
Edward pulled the hand to his lips and kissed the man’s knuckles, “Like, ticklish?”  
“No, just sensitive…” the larger man growled.  
Edward moved his hand to Harvey’s chest, tracing tiny circles on the burned half of Harvey’s chest, “Here too?” he asked, a suggestive smile painted on his lips.  
“Yes,” Harvey sighed, “But please d-don’t…” His words ebbed out as Edward lifted his head to the scarred tissue, beginning to kiss softly at the skin, licking and sucking gently, looking up at the larger man and watching as his face turned bright red.  
Harvey moaned gently as Edward lifted his head again, moving to Harvey’s lips, kissing them lightly and letting out a soft hum, “That’s good to know…” he said quietly, pressing himself closer to Harvey’s naked flesh.  
“Oh? Why?”  
“When you try to tickle me next I have a way to distract you.”  
Harvey leant in to kiss the smaller man, running his hand back up Edward’s spine and running it through his hair as their mouths meshed.  
The ginger haired man let out a juddered sigh, “I wish I could stay here forever…”  
Harvey smiled and nodded, “Once you break up with Jon, you can move in here, you’ll never have to leave this bed.”  
Edward groaned and pressed his forehead to Harvey’s chest, “Yes, but that means I have to actually break up with him…”  
Harvey frowned, “…I thought you wanted to…”  
“I do, but…” Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, “I… I don’t want to hurt him.”  
The frown on Harvey’s brow deepened, “After all he’s done?”  
“He’s…” Edward chewed his own lip gently, “He’s not really done anything that bad.”  
“He made you have sex when you didn’t want it.”  
Edward shifted on the bed, “Yeah, but… I didn’t tell him that I didn’t want it. I-It’s not his fault.”  
Harvey let out a disparaged sigh, “…Edward…”  
Edward huffed to himself, not wanting to explain any further, Harvey always got a little tetchy when he talked about Jon. Edward could understand why he would, it was obvious; having the man you love talking about some other guy can’t exactly be nice. But Edward needed to talk to someone about it, if only so he could sort out the thoughts in his own head.  
He knew it was the right thing to do, but he wanted to do it without hurting the poor man.  
It would hit him so hard, and Edward knew he wouldn’t react well.  
“I love you, Harvey,” Edward said, smiling softly, “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t talk about it with you, I’m just going to make you feel bad. I will break up with him, I promise.”  
Harvey ran a hand up Edward’s arm, smiling in return. The smaller man wasn’t lying when he said that, Harvey was sure he would break up with Jon, or at least try to. It was the ‘after’ he was afraid of; Jon’s bad temper was legendary.  
“I love you too,” he said in a whisper before clearing his throat and looking at the watch on the bedside table, “Would you like some food? It’s almost 12.”  
Edward’s eyes widened, “12?” he looked out the window, the position of the sun telling him that it was indeed midday, “4… I’ve been here for 4 hours?”  
Harvey shrugged, “Three and a half, but, yes. Aren’t you hungry.”  
Edward sighed, frowning slightly, “Hungry, a bit sore, and I think I’ve got a crick in my back…”  
“Oh you poor boy…” Harvey cooed, leaning up to place a soft kiss on Edward’s cheek, “Spaghetti?”  
The ginger haired man grinned widely, “Oh that sounds fantastic.”  
“With tomato and basil sauce?”  
Edward flopped back on the bed, leaving room for Harvey to get up, “Even better…”  
Harvey ran his hand down Edward’s leg as he moved to get up, the smaller man letting out a soft moan as he did. Edward’s eyes widened as Harvey took hold of his foot, and Edward found himself being slowly pulled from the bed.  
“Ah!” he squeaked, “Harvey, let go of my leg!” Harvey chuckled in answer, tugging gently at the man’s foot, watching him grab at the sheets frantically as the base of his spine met the edge of the bed, “Harvey!” he screeched, laughing nervously as Harvey let his foot drop to the floor, leaving him half hanging from the bed.  
Harvey smirked and twitched his head in the direction of the kitchen, “C’mon, I’m not your slave, you have to help.”  
Edward tipped his head back, tapping it against the material on the bed, “Ok.” He sat himself up and reached for a near by dressing gown, noticing, as he put it on, the intense stare he was receiving from the other man. “What?” he asked as he tied the belt, and cast his eyes to the floor again to search for his boxers, remembering a second later that they were in the livingroom, along with his trousers and shirt.  
“Why do you need that?” Harvey asked, gesturing to the dressing gown, he himself standing naked in the doorframe, looking down at the ginger haired man.  
Edward blushed, looking down at himself, he’d hardly even noticed, he was so used to dressing himself as he left the bed; Jon hated when Edward walked naked through the house unless it was after sex, though Edward had no idea why. “I-I…”  
Harvey smiled, “If you feel uncomfortable… then that’s ok.”  
Edward shook his head, and slid the clothes from his shoulders, he didn’t want Harvey to think he felt uncomfortable, he felt perfectly comfortable, he felt a lot better with Harvey’s eyes on him than he would with Jon’s.  
“Ed…” Harvey said gently, noticing the change in Edward’s tone, “It’s ok,” he smiled as he walked from the room, and made his way to the kitchen.  
Edward followed him, the dressing gown now only around his waist, held there by the belt, “I’m just not used to it, I guess.”  
“That’s ok,” Harvey said, opening the fridge and pulling out a pot of pre-made sauce.  
“You’re not mad at me?” the smaller man asked, his eyes at Harvey’s feet.  
Harvey chuckled lightly, walking to Edward’s side and pulling him into a soft embrace, “Of course not, why would I be mad over such an insignificant thing?”  
Edward shrugged, “I-I dunno,” he cleared his throat gently, “So, um, that spaghetti?”  
Harvey nodded and moved away, getting a pot from the cupboard and placing it on the hob, “It’ll be about 10 minutes ok?”  
Edward nodded, watching as Harvey filled the pot with water and poured in some spaghetti, he frowned gently; why did Harvey say he wanted him to help if there was nothing to help with?  
Edward’s head jerked round, back towards the bedroom. Was Harvey hiding something in there?  
“Where are you going, Eddie?” Harvey asked with a smile as Edward walked back into the bedroom.  
“Just lookin’,” Edward said absentmindedly, “I didn’t get a chance to look around earlier.”  
Harvey frowned in confusion and nodded, “Ok…”  
“I mean… If I’m gunna be living here I should know where everything is,” Edward said from the bedroom. Harvey felt himself blush… Edward would have found it eventually anyway, he told himself.   
He almost flinched at the sound of confused laughter; “Harvey!?” Edward yelled, “You have a fleshlight!?” Harvey bit his lip, his blush deepening. “That’s disgusting!” his partner yelled from the bedroom, the laughter continuing.  
Edward re-entered the kitchen, holding the silver coloured tube, “Harvey,” he said bluntly, “This will have to go.”  
“What?”  
“Do you have any idea how unhygienic these are?”  
Harvey frowned, holding out his hand and taking the object from the smaller man, “I keep it clean, I’m not that disgusting... I’m not getting rid of it.”  
“I’m not sleeping in the same room as that thing…” Edward smirked, crossing his arms.  
“I’ll get rid of it, _if_ you can tell me, _honestly_ that you have never used anything like this,” he smirked, waving the object under his nose.  
Edward smirked for a moment, but it quickly fell from his face; he hadn’t, before Jon had bought him one. “…I would rather not talk about that.”  
Harvey smiled, pulling Edward into a kiss, “Why not? Don’t want to talk about _dirty_ you are?”  
“No,” Edward said with a frown, pulling himself away, “I just don’t want to talk about it, ok?”  
Harvey frowned in kind, looking down at the object in his hand, “Fine, if it upsets you that much I’ll get rid of it,” he let out a gentle chuckle, “Not like I’ll need it anymore.”  
Edward smirked at him, “’I’m not your slave’” he said indignantly.  
“Oh, I know,” Harvey said back, extending his arm to drop the sex-toy in the near-by bin.  
Edward let out a small huffed chuckle, approaching Harvey and giving him a gentle kiss, “I love you.”  
Harvey nodded, kissing him back softly, lifting his hand to the smaller man’s face, “Oh, I know…”


	19. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhhhhh  
> Next chapter.  
> 'Twill be good.

Throughout the day, Edward found himself constantly looking up at the clock, watching the minutes speed past, edging closer to the 5 o’clock mark. A weight heavy in his stomach as the afternoon wasted itself away.  
He looked up and saw it was now a quarter past 4, and his wide smile drooped into a deep frown, he exhaled deeply, “Harvey…” he said quietly, his voice cracking with the word.  
“Yeah, Eddie?” his partner replied, walking in from the kitchen with what would be their final cups of home-made banana milkshake.  
The man held out the large glass cup, and Edward took it gently, looking up with sad eyes, “I’ve got to go soon.”  
Harvey huffed gently, looking over at the clock and taking his seat next to Edward, taking a swig from his own glass as he did. “What do you want to do in your last three quarters of an hour?”  
Edward looked down his own naked frame, noticing that it was stained with sweat and sauces; banana sauce from the milkshakes, and the light brown of the ready-made curry they had heated up an hour before, “…I would like to wash myself.”  
“Oh?”  
Edward nodded, “Yeah, if I go home covered in food and stuff, he’s going to know something’s up.”  
Harvey smirked, sipping his drink, “I have a shower?”  
Edward nodded, blushing slightly at having to ask: “May I use it?”  
Harvey’s smirk turned into a full grin, “May I join you?”  
Edward nodded, again, smiling slightly as his blush grew deeper, “…But we might not have time to actually _do_ anything.”  
Harvey shrugged, downing the last half-pint of his milkshake, “That’s ok. A quick 10 minute shower?” He got to his feet, “I’ll get the water warmed up for you.”  
Edward watched the taller man walk from the room and sighed, still glaring at the clock, cursing time for passing so fast. He finished his drink and listened to the shower start. He wished he didn’t have to go. He wanted to just curl up on the sofa and stay there forever, with Harvey.  
He could do…  
He didn’t have to go back.  
He could just…stay.  
The thought of going back to Jon’s house make him feel sick.  
But, he had to, he couldn’t just leave, he at least owed Jon an explanation. He couldn’t just leave him.  
“Edward,” Harvey’s voice called gently from the bathroom, “Hurry up, the water is lovely.”  
The smile returned to Edward’s face and he got to his feet, walking to the white tiled room, seeing Harvey standing under the rushing water, his face and hair dripping wet as he held a hand towards the younger man.  
Edward took the scarred hand, smiling to himself at the surreal situation he was now in; a warm, steam-filled room with a naked, wet, incredibly handsome man. Harvey pulled him close, wrapping his arm around the slight frame, kissing his forehead as he pulled him under the stream of water.  
“What?” Harvey asked, imitating Edward’s smile.  
Edward chuckled lightly, “Nothing, just odd…”  
“What’s odd?”  
Edward shrugged, he wasn’t sure exactly what was odd, it just _was_ ,  he wasn’t used to this sort of thing, Jon _hated_ sharing showers, or hugging while he slept, or almost anything that included touching that was not sex.  
Harvey… was different. He liked to touch, it was nice, odd, but… yeah.  
Harvey had began to run his hands over Edward’s chest, soaping his skin, Edward couldn’t stop himself smiling, pressing his head into Harvey’s kiss. “I love you…” Edward mumbled.  
“I love you too,” Harvey whispered as he pulled away slightly, still rubbing soap into the pale skin.  
Edward reached over to take the yellow/green shower gel and poured some onto his hands, beginning to smother it onto the wet mess of hair on the opposing man’s chest, watching the bubbles appear. He felt the man’s breath hitch as he also began moving his hands, slowly slicking them across his stomach and hips, Harvey imitating the action, making Edward shiver slightly.  
Edward raised himself up and gave Harvey a deep kiss, both continuing to move their hands. This whole day had felt like a dream, the past week, all their interactions. It felt too good to be true. And soon he’d have to return to the cold realism of his ‘other life’.  
He tried to remind himself that it was his choice to go back. He could simply stay, he didn’t have to go back. He was choosing to, because he couldn’t let Jon keep believing that Edward loved him.  
Edward didn’t love him anymore.  
“Are you ok?” Harvey asked him, pulling him close, letting the water rush over them.  
Edward nodded, smiling, “Just a little nervous…”  
“I can come with you, help you break the news?”  
Edward shook his head, “No, I have to do this myself, Harvey, Jon needs to hear it from _me_.”  
Harvey began moving his hands over Edward’s frame again, now washing away the soap, “I wouldn’t be _telling_ him. I’d just be there for moral support.”  
Edward nodded gently, “That might be nice… but, I don’t want him lashing out at you or something.”  
Harvey sighed gently, “Then I’ll just wait outside. Just in case something goes wrong.”  
Edward smiled and nodded, he was sure that Jon wouldn’t do anything harmful. He’d shout and scream, he was sure, but he’d never hurt him.  
They kissed each other again as Harvey turned off the water, humming gently into each others mouths as their fingers continued sliding over their flesh.  
Edward broke their kiss and exhaled gently. “If all goes well then I’ll be back later tonight…”  
Harvey smirked, “I suppose you will. Going to bring _all_ your things?”  
“Uh…” Edward chewed his lip slightly, tasting Harvey still on them. He hadn’t thought of what he was going to do with his stuff; he had a large amount of clothes, equipment, random awesome pieces of technology and art that he’d collected over the years. “…I don’t know. Would you have enough room?”  
Harvey shrugged, pulling a towel from the rack and starting to dry himself and Edward. “I’m sure I can find room. I have plenty of stuff I don’t need anymore.”  
Edward nodded, letting Harvey pat him down with the warm white towel, feeling somewhat like a child as he did.  
The two of them wandered back through the house, finding their discarded clothes and replacing them on their bodies.  
Harvey looked up at the clock and let out a gentle huff, their shower had taken longer than he had expected. “Shall I drive you home then? ‘Coz we’ll need the car to bring your stuff here.”  
Edward nodded as he buttoned his shirt, “Ok. But you can’t come in ok?”  
“Ok.”  
The pair walked to the door, slipping on their shoes and walking hand in hand to Harvey’s black car. Harvey held the door open for Edward, as he had done before, Edward blushed and smiled, saying thank you as he had done before.  
Edward watched Harvey walk round to his side of the car and climb in, fastening his seatbelt and looking over at the ginger haired man as he finished fixing the car mirrors. “Don’t be nervous, Edward. I won’t let him do anything to you.”  
Edward smirked gently as the car took off, “”He’s not going to do anything to me,” he said with a shake of his head.  
Harvey frowned slightly; Edward was so blind sometimes. Jon was a criminal. He was relatively nice to Edward because he loved him. Jon was ruthless in all other areas of his life, Harvey knew what that man could do, he’d witnessed it first hand when they had worked together, including ordering for some poor man to be locked in an industrial freezer for 4 hours.  
Why was Edward ignoring what Jon could do to him? Did he simply think that it was impossible? Did he not _know_ what Jon was like?  
“You know Jon’s done some awful things to people…”  
Edward shrugged, “He’s a bit rough but I’m sure he won’t hurt me too badly.”  
Harvey frowned, “I don’t want him to hurt you at all.”  
A sigh of exasperation left Edward’s lips, “He can’t physically overpower me, and… I’m set on doing this, so he can’t manipulate me. I’m sure… if I just stand my ground, I’ll be fine.”  
Harvey nodded gently, still frowning a little. He hoped that Edward was strong enough. Jon had such a way of making the smaller man bend to him, no matter what, the right word and Edward would snap.  
He decided to himself, if Edward wasn’t out within half an hour then he would text him, asking if he were ok. If he got no reply to the text then he would call. If he got no reply to the call then he’d go in.  
“If you’re sure,” he decided to respond with, rather than telling Edward his plan.  
In the short distance between  Harvey’s apartment and Jon’s house Edward felt himself beginning to shake, a lump growing in his throat and a hole expanding in his chest. He tried to distract himself from the looming task with idle conversation, and reaching his hand out to run it over Harvey’s knee, knowing that the man couldn’t really comfort him, but hoping the action would help.  
He didn’t really want to be comforted, he felt like if another word was brought up on the subject then he would end up crying. He needed to get it over and done with. He couldn’t bare the torture any more, he couldn’t hide this secret, couldn’t hide his true feelings, his heart ached every time he thought of it.  
He let out a deep exhale as Harvey parked the car, he leaned over to give Harvey a gentle kiss, “I love you. I’ll see you in a bit ok?”  
Harvey nodded, “Ok, I’ll wait out here. I love you.”  
Edward walked to his front door, looking back towards Harvey, his heart thumping hard in his chest as he urged himself to put his key in the door.  
“Jon?” he asked as he walked in, looking towards Jon’s chair, hoping to see him there.  
“Edward,” Jon replied, looking up from his seat, “Nice to have you home.”


	20. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so evil...  
> I'm sorry guys...  
> ://

Edward smiled dully, a lump strong in his throat. His mouth wouldn’t form words. Oh god, he didn’t know what to say.  
He should have planned it out.  
He had no idea how to tell him.  
What should he say?  
He’d go and pack some of his things, and plan out what he’d say. That way he wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the house afterwards, and he’d have a kind of basic script to work from.  
Jon smiled at him, and he got to his feet, pulling Edward into a tight hug, one that crushed Edward’s heart. “I missed you,” Jon cooed gently, “Where did you get to?”  
Edward shrugged as Jon broke their hug, he didn’t want to answer, he didn’t want to lie. He felt like if he said anything he would start to cry. He didn’t even know if he could talk, the lump in his throat was so large it was almost choking him.  
Edward, with a solemn stare, let out a tiny grunt, designed to tell the other man that he didn’t want to talk, and he walked off towards their shared room. He looked around, trying to remember where the largest or their suitcases would be, searching in the hidey-holes around the room.  
 _Hi_  
 _Dent: Hey, going ok? You want me to come in?_  
He found one, after about 5 minutes,  in the back of the wardrobe, and began to think of what he should say to Jon.  
Maybe he should just come straight out and say? ‘I’m leaving you’, nice and clean and blunt, no rough edges.  
…But he didn’t want to be too harsh.  
 _No, it’s fine. I’m just feeling a bit bleh.  
Dent: Just think of us. You know this is for your own good. Just get it over and done with, then we can go home._  
Edward looked through his draws, deciding how to pack his things. He hadn’t realised he had so much stuff. What did he need o take? What would he not need anymore?  
He quickly began to pack up his clothes, trying to fold them as small as they would go to make more room, chewing his lip as he realised how long it would take him to sort and pack this stuff up.  
 _You know, I might stay here tonight. This might take a while._  
 _Dent: I dunno. What if he flips?_  
Edward gulped in a mouthful of air, his throat dry and his skin crawling, shaking everytime he thought of Jon, of what he should say.  
He couldn’t just come out and say it… He’d have to make a speech or something.  
He had to tell him why he was leaving. Should he tell him it was Harvey? Or just say he’d met ‘someone else’?   
_He seems fine, but there’s loads more to sort out than I first thought.  
Dent: He’s not even shouted or anything?_  
Edward’s teeth continued knowing on his bottom lip as he continued filling his bags, almost half way done already, with his clothes at least, it may take a while longer to pack his books and plans and stuff.  
 _No, it’s fine. I just need a few hours.  
Dent: Ok. When you want me to pick you up, just text._  
Maybe he should text Harvey and tell him he’d be a while. He didn’t want the man to worry, think that Jon was trying to kill him or persuade him to stay or something.  
He reached into his back pocket and frowned. Where was his phone?  
He quickly checked his other pockets, it wasn’t in there.  
Had it fallen out in the car?  
It must have, he didn’t remember putting it down.  
He placed his fake smile back on his face, and walked quickly down the stairs. He’d just get his phone and come back in.  
He glanced at Jon as he entered the room, and felt his stomach twist.  
Jon smiled up at him, his smile flat and his eyes dark, “You know you should really have put a lock on this,” he growled, glaring down at the phone in his hand.  
“Jon,” Edward gasped, feeling a shiver of terror rip through him. “Give me back my phone, please,” he said, outstretching his hand.  
Jon frowned, “Anybody could go through it, read your texts, see who you’ve called.”  
Edward felt himself shaking, “J-Jon, give me the phone.”  
“…Some of these are really quite interesting, informative.”  
The lump in Edward’s throat grew hard, threatening to choke him, tears starting to fall from him as he struggled to form words, “J-Jon… I w-was going to…”  
Jon raised an eyebrow, and placed the phone on the chair-side table. He let out a gentle sigh, Edward had never seen him like this, he had no idea what was going to happen. He glanced towards the window; it was ok, Harvey would still be outside, if Edward took too long he would come in, if he heard them fighting he would call, and when Edward didn’t answer he’d come in, Edward was sure of it.  
“Go on then,” Jon growled, “Try and explain yourself. Fucking try.”  
He felt as if he were being crushed, he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to cry but the tears wouldn’t stop.  
“Edward!” Jon snapped, slamming his fist on the arm of his chair.  
Edward let a sob escape from him, “I’m sorry,” he whimpered, partially unaware of what he was saying.  
“How did this happen, Edward? I thought you loved me, you _told me_ you loved me.”  
Edward’s chest convulsed, “I d-do, I _did_ I thought… I don’t know what happened.”  
Jon’s frown deepened, Edward could see tears in his eyes, sadness overwhelmed by anger, “Explain. Now!”  
“I w-was happy, Everything was fine, b-but he was just so nice, a-and now-“  
“You love him more than me?!” Jon asked through gritted teeth.  
Edward pursed his lips, and slowly nodded, tears still pouring down his face.  
Jon growled loudly, his lips twitching as he tried to hold in his emotion. “How long?! How long have you been lying to me?!”  
Edward swallowed hard, taking a step backwards, distancing himself, not wanting to say.  
“How long?!”  
Edward cowered in on himself, and slowly made himself whisper “…I’m not sure.”  
It was true, he wasn’t sure when this thing with Harvey had turned into a relationship, when he had began to _love_ the other man, it had just happened, so slowly he had hardly noticed it until it was too late.  
“How the fuck do you not realise when you’re fucking in love with someone??!” Jon screamed, getting to his feet, “I remember the exact fucking moment I fell in love with you!”  
Edward’s breath was becoming sharper, if he didn’t calm down soon he was sure he’d have a panic attack.  
“You were sitting right there,” Jon screeched, pointing to Edward’s usual chair, the same one he had sat in a few days prior while texting Harvey. “And I asked if you wanted a drink, you then got up, and made us both a hot chocolate. You smiled at me, Edward, the way you smiled at me, it made me love you. That one smile, the smile you always give me when you make me food or drink.”  
Edward inhaled silently, trying not to meet Jon’s eyes as the man approached, he knew he deserved this, he deserved worse, he wouldn’t be surprised if Jon tried to kill him. How could he have done this?  
“I’m s-sorry,” Edward managed to gasp between his sobs, knotting his hands together as Jon continued closer.  
“Did you ever love me?” Jon asked quietly, tears still threatening him but refusing to fall.  
Edward’s head dropped lower, his sobs growing louder, he flinched as Jon reached out and held his arm, gripping tightly, “Edward? Did you?”  
“I don’t know!” Edward shouted suddenly, “I-I’ve never felt like this! For _anyone_!”  
Jon lifted his hand and sent his fist into Edward’s face, making the man flinch and shudder, Jon still held him tightly, stopping him from falling. He stood silent for a moment, shaking heavily, forcing his anger down, not letting it overtake his thoughts.  
Edward gasped slightly, breathing heavily, feeling the sting on his face.  
Jon let go of Edward’s arm, and stepped back a little, “You’re not leaving this house,” he said quietly, turning and taking Edward’s phone from the table, dropping it in a nearby cup of water. Edward let out a tiny gasp, staring down at the phone.  
“I’m not letting you leave.”  
Edward frowned slightly, “H-Harvey won’t let you do this, he’s outside, he’ll realise something’s wrong and he’ll come in.”  
Jon smiled slightly and shook his head, “No, he thinks you and I require some time to talk, he’s gone home.”  
Edward exhaled in disbelief, and quickly moved to the door, trying to open it, putting all his weight on the handle in an attempt to budge it.   
Jon huffed, “You can’t leave. I’m not letting you leave until you change your mind.”


	21. MystroTheDefender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Eddie :c  
> I'm sorry it's taken me so long to upload

Edward backed away from the door, “C-Change my mind?”  
“Yes,” Jon hissed, “Change your fucking mind.”  
“I can’t just-“  
Edward’s sentence was interrupted by a swing of Jon’s fist, dodging it by a fraction of an inch.  
“I said change your mind! If you can so easily decide you love him, and that your life with me means nothing, you can fucking change it back!” Jon said, far closer to Edward than the smaller man was comfortable with. His skin was crawling, his lips twitching with the pain of his emotion, Jon’s tall, threatening stance making him feel helpless and weak.  
He just wanted to run, run out that door and never look back. “I could just unlock the door, I have lock picking equipment, I could just walk out, Jon.”  
Jon shook his head, “Not unless you change your mind.”  
“You can’t stop me, Jon,” Edward growled weakly.   
Jon shook his head, bowing it sadly, “You won’t leave, you can’t…” He walked away from Edward, the action making the hairs on the man’s neck stand on end.  
Edward’s gaze fell from the door, he swallowed hard, his eyes following Jon across the room, watching him walk into the kitchen, blocking the stairway to their room. “I might end up doing something _stupid_ ,” the man growled softly, threateningly.  
Edward’s heart jumped into his throat, images of what this ‘something stupid’ could be, remembering the number of knives and other sharp objects that had collected in the kitchen draws over the years. He forced his head to stay clear, “Jon, you can’t stop me,” he whispered, taking a step towards the other man.  
He couldn’t let Jon manipulate him like this, like he always did, all those times he’d said ‘I’m doing this for you’, ‘You know it’s your own fault’, ‘I promise you’ll like it eventually’.  
Edward grit his teeth, sighing exasperatedly, “I’m leaving, Jon.” Whatever Jon did, he had to let him do it, there was no way Jon would really hurt him, he was just saying it to get Edward to stay.  
Edward walked up the stairs, grabbing his half-packed bag, and opening the draw of his bedside table to retrieve his lock picking kit. There was a loud noise behind him, he turned his head, expecting to see Jon in the doorway, but finding that the door had been closed.  
Immediately he panicked, “Jon!” he shouted, walking to the door, trying the handle and finding it locked, “Let me out!”  
“I told you,” Jon said quietly through the door, forcing Edward’s hearing to strain, “You’re not leaving.”  
“Yes I am!” Edward yelled back at him, thumping his hand against the door. He dropped to his knees and took out his lock picking tools. “I’m getting out of this room if you like it or not.”  
As he placed the head of the green handled metal into the lock he began to hear a loud hiss. He frowned, what was that?  
It sounded like gas.  
His eyes widened and he clasped his hand to his mouth. Jon was flooding the room with fear gas.  
He quickly stood up, looking around for some form of escape. His eyes fixed on the window, he’d have to jump or, something, there was no other way and Jon’s toxin was filling the room, he knew how debilitating it could be, he’d seen it work, he didn’t even want to think about the images that would soon fill his head. How could Jon do this to him? This stuff could kill if it wasn’t the right percentage, and it often was not.  
Did Jon want him dead?  
He pulled the window open and sucked in lungfulls of the outside air, but it was already too late, he could feel himself becoming dizzy, his vision blurring, soon the visions would start.  
He couldn’t just jump, he’d break his leg. He needed to try and climb down, and then just run. Run and find a safe place to curl up until the hallucinations dissipated.  
The next few hours were going to be terrible, he could tell.  
He took in a breath of clean air before turning back into the room, finding anything he could tie to make a rope of some kind; sheets, trousers, anything that didn’t look like it would tear.  
He began to choke on the noxious air as it slowly seeped into his lungs, he was trying not to breathe it, but he couldn’t help it.  
He soon had a makeshift rope, long enough to get his at least halfway to the ground, that should be long enough to ensure no broken bones at least.  
The floor was starting to warp in his eyes, holes appearing, crumbling into a black pit, he tried to keep his head clear, remember, they were not real, they were in his head, he would be ok, he should just ignore it.  
One end of the rope was tied securely to the bed post, the other flung through the windowsill. Edward tried not to gag as he looked down at the writhing sea of grass as it began to climb the rope towards him.  
Ignore it, he told himself, it’s not real.  
He held back a scream as the window itself began to grow teeth, chewing on the rope, breaking it, trying to take away his only hope of escape, his only way back to Harvey.  
Edward threw his bag out the window, and took hold of the rope, trying to dismiss the gnawing teeth, he flung himself over the edge, preparing himself for a fall, but instead only hanging there.  
He began to slowly make his way down the rope, panting hard, tears pouring down his face, vomit rising in his throat as the rope swayed and bent in the imagined wind, threatening to snap.  
With deep breaths he scrunched his eyes closed, blocking out the hurtful images, pushing the sickness back down his throat. He felt his grip on the rope loosen, and felt himself slipping.  
A short unwanted scream came from him as he slid down the linin, his grip faltering, he opened his eyes and saw the grass floor flying towards him.  
The green strings grabbed at him, tying around his ankle, not letting him free, not letting him leave, he just wanted to get beck to Harvey, that was all he wanted, he could get away, he would.  
He found his bag, being pulled into the sunken ground by the grass, he pulled it from the long fingers and began to move, hobbling on his aching knee, his ankle throbbing, it was sprained, possibly fractured.  
He had to keep moving.  
As he turned to run he felt something take his arm, pinching him, he tried to ignore it; it wasn’t real, but it kept pulling him. It wouldn’t stop no matter how much he struggled.  
He looked back, and saw that demonic scarecrow mask, the one that many times before now had seemed so attractive, the mouth opened and a long screech erupted from it, deafening him, making him moan in pain.  
“Edward,” the voice screeched, the nails from the hand digging into his wrist, blood dribbling onto the floor, being absorbed by the pulsating green mass.  
Edward felt the hand pulling him, tearing his flesh, the blood flowing quicker, the sight making him sick, the chemicals in his system making him dizzy. He tried to struggle away, but the figure kept pulling at him, dragging him back to the house.  
“Let me go!” Edward managed to scream.  
The mouth of the mask opened again, and the screeched voice returned, “You’re not leaving here alive!”


	22. Chapter 22

Edward grunted loudly as the figure of Jon held a metal snake, which he supposed must really have been handcuffs, to his wrist, the snake wrapped around him and melded to the chair he had been sat on. Jon pushed him down, making him sit despite his best efforts.  
“Let me go,” Edward shouted, the words making him dizzy and sick. His ankle was throbbing, hurting whenever he tried to move, but he couldn’t stop, he knew that the more he moved the quicker the toxin would get through his system, the sooner he’d be able to get out of here, back to Harvey.  
“Why would you want to leave here, Edward?” Jon asked, his voice gravelly and demonic to Edward’s ears. “You were happy here, Edward… Why would you want to ruin what we had?”  
“I wasn’t happy!” Edward shouted, struggling in his seat. He let out another grunt as something struck him, he hadn’t even seen it.  
He could taste blood in his mouth, whatever had hit him was hard, and large, his jaw felt weird.  
“I loved you! I gave you everything!” Jon screeched as he hit Edward again, watching blood dribble from the man’s mouth as he squirmed on the chair, tugging at the handcuffs.  
“…Let me go,” Edward said again, his words slurring slightly, letting the blood drip from his mouth, looking up at the malformed mask.  
Jon said nothing this time, but struck him again.  
He was so angry. Edward had known Jon wouldn’t give him up without a fight but he hadn’t expected this.  
He gasped and coughed as he felt a blow to his chest, he still couldn’t see them coming, he had no time to prepare for the hits.  
After three more he felt like he was going to throw up. “S-Stop,” he stuttered, feeling more blood leaving his mouth with the words.  
Jon glared down at him, unsure of what to do other than punch him, he wanted to beat the living shit out of him, how could Edward do this to him? Make him care, take so much from him, and then just throw away everything they had. He’d thought they were happy! If Edward wasn’t happy why hadn’t he said? He hadn’t said a  _word_ , he’d never said.  
“I. Fucking. Loved. You,” Jon yelled, throwing a punch with each word, Edward didn’t reply this time, didn’t protest, simply took the beating.  
Did he have nothing to say for himself? No reason for doing this? “Why did you do it?!” Jon bellowed, demanding an answer.  
Edward panted, pain shooting through him with every breath, the room spinning, “I d-didn’t mean to…” he slurred out, “It just happened.”  
Jon screamed in anguish, throwing punch after punch into Edward’s face, feeling his knuckles sting, feeling his own skin split as it came into contact with the other man’s jaw.  
Edward hoped he wouldn’t ask anymore, he could feel his jaw hanging loosely, dislocated and bleeding. He looked up at Jon’s warped face, trying to keep focused, trying not to let the tears of pain leave him.  
“You are  _nothing_ ” Jon spat at him, “You don’t deserve love, not from me, not from  _anyone_! You don’t deserve to live!”   
Edward could see the anguish in the man’s face, he didn’t mean what he was saying, Jon would never  _kill_  him. “…Please,” he tried to say, “Let me go.”  
He could tell Jon didn’t mean it, there was no way Jon would kill him, he couldn’t. It just wouldn’t happen.  
Jon let out an odd grunt, letting himself flop backwards and lean against the wall, he swallowed hard as he looked down at the handcuffed man. He couldn’t let him go, but he couldn’t keep him here forever. He couldn’t kill him, couldn’t  _make_  him love him.  
Jon’s mouth twitched into a smile, he could make Edward love him again, if he could create a toxin to make Edward fear him he could easily make one to make him fall in love. It might could take weeks to create one. He didn’t have that much time. Harvey would probably come back in the next day or two.  
There was no way he could find a place move all his stuff before Harvey got here.  
He remembered trying to create a similar formula a few years ago, when he had been experimenting with pleasure toxins. Maybe he could find his notes and create that, it might at the least get Edward to second guess himself and break up with Harvey.  
Edward stared up at him, scared by the smile that had appeared on the man’s lips, “Let me go,” he repeated, trying to sound sure of himself.  
Jon shook his head, “No, Edward,” he growled, “You stay there,” he checked Edward’s handcuffs, making sure they where tight, making sure the man couldn’t move, and he left to find his notes.  
Edward watched him leave, unable to do anything to stop him. He wriggled in his cuffs and cursed, he couldn’t get out, he tried to rock the chair so he could stand himself up but when he tried his head began to spin and he found himself trying not to vomit.  
He didn’t know what Jon was going to do but it would in no way be good. Maybe Edward was wrong? Maybe Jon was going to try to kill him, maybe he had left to find his ‘tools’ upstairs.  
He had to get out, he had to. He couldn’t let this happen, not hen he was so close to being happy, he closed his eyes for a second, wishing for Harvey to burst in and save him.  
Harvey, of course, didn’t come, Edward let his breath leave him in a disappointed huff. He had to get himself out, he couldn’t rely on someone to save him. He looked around the misting room, surely he could find something to get himself out with. Something sharp to cut himself free or… something.  
He sat rigid as Jon came back into the room, and grabbed the back of Edward’s chair, “C’mon,” he said as he began to pull the chair, “I’m not having you out of my sight longer than I have to.”  
“Jon let me go,” Edward moaned deciding to try a new approach, he should have known it was idiotic to try and appeal to Jon’s _compassionate_  side, “Harvey will come and find me, he’ll kill you, Jon, he won’t think twice about it.” As he talked he pulled at his cuffs, he could feel the flimsy wood of the chair beginning to wiggle in its socket, it wouldn’t take him long to break out of this as long as Jon didn’t notice his efforts.  
Jon continued tugging at the chair, pulling Edward through into the ‘dining room’ AKA Jon’s lab. Edward held back a smirk, he could feel the wood bending with every tug even though each movement made him dizzy this gave him some hope.  
As Jon dropped the chair, leaving Edward in the centre of the room, the tied man began to realise; movement made him dizzy, sickeningly so. Even if he could escape his cuffs he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere until the effects of the toxins wore off. He was still stuck here.  
He slumped in his chair, the realisation flooding him, making him shrink. He didn’t know how long the toxin would last, but he guessed he didn’t have long before Jon did whatever it was that he was planning.  
“Jon…” he said weakly, “Just let me go. You don’t want this.”  
Jon let out a short huffed chuckle, “Oh I can assure you,” he growled, “I do.” He began moving around the room, pulling things from cupboards; beakers, measuring equipment, several incredibly old looking notebooks, and even just watching this made Edward feel terribly dizzy.  
He wasn’t sure what Jon was doing, he didn’t want to know, he just wanted to get out. He forced his eyes closed, trying to focus, trying to think of something that could help him get out.  
They did have a landline phone, in the corner of the living room. Jon, most likely, would have disconnected it, Eddie hadn’t thought to look. If he could get to it he might be able to call someone, he knew Harvey’s number off by heart, he could call him.  
But when would he get time? He needed Jon to sleep or go upstairs for a long amount of time or something. When Jon was focused he wouldn’t sleep, and he wouldn’t go upstairs unless he needed something important.  
He hung his head, keeping his eyes closed, perhaps Jon would more readily leave him alone if he thought he were asleep. And keeping his eyes closed stopped the room spinning, he kept his feet moving slightly, trying to speed the toxin out of him.  
He could hear Jon moving around, he kept track of where he was, but he didn’t leave the room. He soon lost track of time, he wasn’t sure if it had been minutes or hours, but he could feel himself starting to get tired. He didn’t dare keep his eyes closed, fearing that he would fall asleep, and wake up to find Jon over him.  
Jon was sitting at his desk now, he glanced upward up Edward and smirked slightly. “You’re done pretending to sleep?”  
Edward chose not to respond, his jaw hurt terribly and he didn’t want to aggravate it more than he needed. He stared up at the other man and frowned, still unsure of what he was doing.  
“Shouldn’t be too much longer, Edward, then I’ll untie you, and we’ll be back to normal.”  
Edward felt a hard frown fall on his features, “Things will never be normal again. I  _hate_  you Jon. I never want to see you again.”


End file.
